


Get It Back to Good

by JudasComplex



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Multi, Slow Build, So much angst, adorable babies, and it will build to yu/yosuke, coming to terms with sexuality, the two with the girls are in the past, there are so many other relationships mentioned but they're not important, wow narukami gets around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 62,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudasComplex/pseuds/JudasComplex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's barely been a month since he left Inaba. Only a few days since school started in the city. And Yu Narukami can't stand another moment here--but he can't find a way to escape. And all he really wants is to see his friends...his best friend. And to make this horrible twisting in his chest stop every time he thinks about him. (Title shamelessly borrowed from Matchbox 20.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So! My head-canon-world is part P4 PS2, part P4Golden, part P4 original animation. Since they all (essentially) tell the same story, just show different parts, I've tried to incorporate them all into a fluid universe. I've chosen to go with Yu as his name since that's the one I'm most familiar with, having never seen Souji until I hit the fanfics. The only thing I HAVEN'T carried over is anything to do with Marie. (No matter how much I liked her.) So while the ski trip happened in this verse, the TV never turned on/was there, etc. It will help immensely if you are familiar with all three, but I don't think it's really necessary to enjoy the story. As I said in the tags, this is a slow build Yu/Yosuke fic, but you'll see some other relationships (and the remnants thereof) floating around as well. Enjoy!

_Saturday April 14th – Cloudy – Afternoon_

“Narukami!”

Yu's head snapped up and out of the TV world his mind had been in. Which one had he been walking through this time? _Nanako's. It has to be._ There was a certain calm he still felt when he remembered that one, even though at the time, he'd been anything but calm.

“I...sorry, Yamada-sensei. What was the question?”

His English teacher sighed. “Have you been listening at all? Right, stand up, on your feet.”

Yu pushed himself up from his desk, staring ahead at the board behind the teacher. English. Why did he have to be spacing out in English?

“Fill in the appropriate phrase for this sentence. 'I had no idea that you were planning to come—you...what, me?' Use the base verb, 'to warn.'”

Yu's mind raced for anything close to the appropriate answer. _Damn... Think hard, Narukami... Okay, pretend someone's come to visit. ...oh, Rise, I had no idea you were planning to come... you..._

“Should have warned me?” Yu offered, hopeful.

“Mmm, lucky guess. Yes, you could say that they 'should have' warned you, or they 'might have' warned you. Sit down, and try to at least look like you're paying attention next time?”

“Sorry, Sensei.” Yu slid back into his seat, trying to ignore his classmates' eyes on him. It wasn't that he wanted to be ignoring the class; even if English was one of his best subjects, it was one he liked learning about. But...

The seat next to him was empty. Behind him was a girl who thought she knew absolutely everything, and would not hesitate for a second to prove to Yu that she was smarter than him. Diagonally ahead to his right was a young man who paid even less attention than Yu managed to muster, and the teachers all seemed to forget he existed.

None of it was right. None of it felt right.

The bell rang, and school was finally over for the day. Had he really only been back in the city for a little under a month? School had only been in session for a week and already it felt like he'd spent his whole life in this place...and not in the way his parents had insisted it would feel. _Two more weeks until Golden Week. ...Not that I'll be able to go anywhere._

On instinct, his hand went to his pocket, taking out his phone and flipping it to see the screen. Nothing. It was the beginning of school back in Inaba as well, after all. His friends were probably busy getting used to their new classes and schedules. Rise was back in the idol world, and though she'd consistently been texting him ever since he'd left town, she'd gotten quiet in the last week or so. The news confirmed that her tour was slated to be underway soon, so he didn't imagine he'd hear from her for a while.

Still. Didn't anyone...?

He snapped the phone shut, shaking the thoughts from his mind. Of course his friends missed him. He could still remember them running after the train as they left. Remembered their constant texts over the next week. Remembered the conversations he'd had with some of them, often late at night when they couldn't sleep.

But now...

“Hey, Narukami.” Yu's head lifted again to see a young man leaning just inside the doorway of his classroom, giving him a strange look. “Class is over. Go home.”

“O-oh. Right. Sorry.” Go home. _I wish I could._ He stood, grabbed his bag, and headed out of the building.

_After School -- > Evening_

The walk from his school in the city back to his house was so radically different. No one walking with him, nowhere to go after school. He hadn't joined any of the clubs; how could he? He could try playing soccer, but the few times Daisuke had tried to teach him some moves, he'd fallen on his ass. By the end of the year, he'd proved passable at basketball, but there was no way he could bring himself to play without Kou there to back him up. He'd never learned to play an instrument, so band was out, and just thinking about plays brought Yumi back to mind. Everything had too many memories attached to it.

No riverbank. No shopping district...at least, not like the one in Inaba. There _was_ a Junes, but... Yu swallowed instinctively. He hated going in there. Out of all the places in the city, Junes was the one he absolutely couldn't manage. Every memory he had seemed to trace back there. Meetings in the food court, shopping with the girls, working with Yosuke...

He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe again. He knew he'd miss his friends. He never could have guessed it would hurt this much.

The house was dark and quiet when he got back. Hardly a surprise. Dojima was home for dinner more often than his parents were. He clicked on the light just inside the doorway, and then headed over to his half of the house.

The house his parents had in the city was different than anywhere he'd lived before. The house had been a new purchase when they'd come back from abroad, and was built as if for two families—giving Yu essentially a house of his own. _“It'll give you more of a sense of independence, Yu-kun,”_ he'd heard. _“After all, you'll be on your own soon. It's best if you learn how to fend for yourself now, where at least you have a safety net to catch you if you fall.”_

'More of a sense of independence.' It was insulting. They'd barely asked him how his time in Inaba had been, let alone wonder if he knew how to keep a house. He'd known how to do that before he'd left. _If only they'd met Nanako. Talk about ready to live on her own._

The next thought was far from welcome. _And she'd almost had to. Just like Uncle almost did._ It had been bad enough when his uncle had wrecked his car, chasing after Namatame. Yu had been sure they'd find Nanako safe and sound, but when she'd nearly died herself (and, if he was honest, _had_ died briefly)... He hadn't wanted to even imagine Dojima in that house on his own. If somehow Nanako had pulled through and not his uncle...

“Dammit.” He'd been convinced there were no more tears to cry, but here he was, messing up his sleeve cuffs all over again. Crying wasn't going to bring them any closer to the city. Crying wasn't going to do anything except give him a headache. And crying over something that _didn't happen_ was even more ridiculous.

He turned on the light in his living space, staring into the empty room. Even with the sofa, the kotatsu (which was still on the table, despite the weather being warm enough to warrant it being put away), his bookshelves...the television...the room still managed to feel empty.

As he did every other time, as he walked past to the kitchen, he set his fingertips on the screen of the TV, hoping—just hoping—this time something would happen.

And as always, the screen stayed black.

_Just like in my nightmares. Except...this isn't a nightmare._

“I need to make dinner.” He wasn't hungry and there wasn't anyone to say that to, but somehow he found it easier to focus if he said it anyway, as if Nanako or Dojima was around to hear him. Maybe it was normal, and maybe it was the fog finally getting into his brain. Who knew. It didn't really matter.

“What should I make, Nanako?” It was little more than a whisper, but it still make his heart ache. Opening the fridge door, he sighed. There wasn't much. He'd need to go shopping soon. _One more thing she's not here to do._ “Mmm. Maybe I'll just make ramen.” As he reached for an egg to cook in with the noodles, his hand passed a block of tofu— _How'd you know I can't eat tofu? Wow, that's considerate of you_ —and he froze.

“Ganmodoki.” It was relatively easy to make at home, though he knew it wouldn't come close to the ganmo they'd gotten from Marukyu the day they all met Rise. But... “It'll freeze well, in case they don't get home. Yeah. I'll make ganmo.” He picked up the tofu—

_Ring-ring~_

“My...phone?” No, it was the house phone. The land line connected to both sides of the house, in case a call came in for him—or at least, so said his mother. _Not that anyone would call me at this number... I suppose I'll answer anyway, just in case._ He set the tofu on the counter, then picked up the handset, heading back to the kitchen. He could talk on the phone and make ganmo at the same time. “Good evening, Narukami residence.”

There was a pause, and then a familiar low chuckle at the end of the line. “Well, now that's not the voice I expected to hear.”

Yu had to think fast before dropping the phone, the skillet, or both. “Uncle!”

“It's good to hear you, Yu. I was actually calling to speak to my sister. Is Kyoko in?”

He shook his head, arranging ingredients in front of him—then remembered his uncle couldn't see him. “N-no, Mother's out. Both of my parents are. I'm sorry you missed them; I'll have to tell her you called. I'm sure she'll want to talk to you.”

That got a heartier laugh from Dojima. “You sure we're talking about the same Kyoko? Pass along I called, but don't worry too much about it. Guess you're used to telling people no one's home, aren't you? Wish I could have taught you something a little more useful.” Yu found himself smiling, though he couldn't place quite why. “So, how are you adapting to life back in the city? Must be...well, maybe not more exciting than the Inaba you saw, but still. Everything going well?”

_Except that I don't want to be here...?_ “Yeah, everything's going well. Yasogami teaches at a faster rate for some of my classes, so I'm keeping ahead in a few subjects.” It wasn't a complete lie, though just in the week he'd been back, he was coming close to running that buffer zone empty.

“Well that's good to hear. Not that I'm surprised; you seemed to keep up with your schoolwork just as well as you did everything else while you were here. Your parents must be impressed.” Yu made a non-committal sound, aiming to sound at least like he agreed. It must have worked, because Dojima continued. “Fitting back in with your old friends? They must have missed you.”

_If they have, no one's mentioned it._ “Yeah. It's been nice. I wasn't here long before I went to Inaba either, but they seem to remember me.” At least, they all knew his name. But that didn't mean much.

“Good. I was a little worried. I know your mom's mentioned she gets concerned about you making friends, what with how often you've had to move. I don't know why she was worried, though; you made friends here easily eno—” Dojima's voice cut off, and in the background, Yu could hear Nanako.

“You got him? I wanna say hi! Let me talk to big bro too!”

Dojima chuckled, and Yu's smile came back to his lips. “All right, all right. Here, I'll hand you over to Nanako.” Then to her, “Give me the phone back when you're done, okay? I still have a few questions for him.”

“Okay, Dad,” Nanako replied, and then her voice grew clearer as she turned to the phone. “Hi, big bro! I missed you so much!”

Yu's cheeks were starting to hurt. It'd been a while since he smiled like this. _Probably about a month...back on the platform at Yasoinaba._ “I've missed you too. Hey, guess what? I'm making dinner, and you know what it is?”

“Umm...” Nanako thought for a moment. “An omelette?”

Yu laughed. “No, but that would have been a good choice too. I'm making ganmodoki, like from the tofu shop in Inaba.”

She gasped. “I haven't had that before! I wish you could make me some.”

_Oh Nanako, I wish I was cooking for you too._ “I wish I could too. It freezes pretty well; maybe I'll bring you some when I come to visit.”

“Yay!” The clouds were gone from her voice. “When are you visiting, big bro? Can you come have a picnic with us for Golden Week?”

That was a stab in the chest he'd expected, though his eyes drifted to the calendar anyway. He'd genuinely hoped to be able to make it back, even for just a little of Golden Week. He still had the money saved for the train ticket; that had been set aside before he'd even left Inaba. He'd been able to balance quite a few part time jobs, after all. The higher prices of the holiday season weren't an issue. His parents, however...

“I'm going to try. No promises, though. I still have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, from the year I was gone.” It hurt to tell even the slightest lie to Nanako, but he didn't want to burden her with the truth, either. Especially when she might not understand.

Hell, _he_ didn't understand.

“Okaaay. You did promise to come visit and play with me, though!”

“I did, and I still promise I will as soon as I can. Hey, tell me about how school is going for you.” He let Nanako fill his mind as he made the dinner by rote. It was almost enough that if he closed his eyes, he could pretend she was here. ...Though if he actually closed his eyes, he'd burn himself for sure. He'd have to settle for metaphorically closing his eyes.

“Big bro? Dad wants to talk to you again. But I'll talk to you again soon, okay?” The closing remark brought Yu back to the present.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Stay safe, Nanako. I'll talk to you again soon.”

“You too! Love you, big bro!”

“I love you too.”

There was a shuffle, and an amused Dojima came back on the phone. “Sorry about her tirade about school there.”

“No, it's fine. I asked her to tell me. It's been quiet in the house; it's good to hear someone, even if it's just daily life talk like that.” Yu took the first few ganmo out of the skillet, then on a whim put a few more on. _It doesn't hurt to cook up a few more, for tomorrow._ That put the question of lunch out of the picture. Good, one less thing to think about.

“Ah, I bet. Parents still out at work most of the time?”

“Yeah. They're keeping busy. I don't mind. I'm used to keeping myself occupied.” He mentally smacked himself as soon as the words left his mouth, and prayed that Dojima didn't take the offense he rightfully could at that.

The laugh from the other end of the line reassured him. “I guess I'm to blame for that, too! Hah, good to know I've been such a positive influence in your life. Don't let me get too big of a head, huh?”

“I'm sorry, Uncle... I didn't mean...”

“I'm not mad, Yu. You know as well as I that you didn't exactly see me at my best last year.” The older man's voice had grown softer, a tone that Yu remembered well from long talks at the kitchen table. “Anyway, I heard Nanako ask you about Golden Week. Have you made any plans yet?”

“I...well...” He sighed. “No.”

“Mmm. Parents taking you somewhere?”

“No, as far as I know, they're staying home. I heard Mother talking the other day about discussing placement tests and universities.”

There was a beat, and for a split second, Yu was afraid the phone had dropped the call. When Dojima spoke again, he sounded decidedly unimpressed. “Over Golden Week? Man, and I thought I was the workaholic of the family.” He sighed, a rumble in the back of his throat. “Tell your mom I said to give you a break, okay? Universities aren't going anywhere. It's not every day you get a week off.”

Yu managed a chuckle, though there wasn't much mirth behind it. “I think they just want me to keep my sights focused on the city. They say there's more opportunities for me out here.” The silence that fell as he finished the sentence betrayed what they both thought of that particular line of interest. “B-but I'm pretty sure I'll be good to come visit over the summer break. Maybe even in May, too. They can't expect me to take tests then, too.” _At least, I hope not._

“Mmm. I know my sister and her husband mean well, but I hoped this over-protective streak would have worn off by now. Tell you what, I've changed my mind. Tell Kyoko to give me a call whenever she gets back in. It's been too long since I talked to my sister. I may be her little brother, but I think I've got a pretty good handle on this whole parenting thing now.”

Yu swallowed. “Don't go getting me in trouble, now.”

“Don't worry. I'll keep it strictly intellectual.” Yu could hear a small smile returning to Dojima's face. “Well, I think Nanako's dinner is almost ready, so I'm sure you've got...what did I hear her say? Ganmodoki waiting for you?”

“Oh, yeah. It's just about done here too.” Yu finally managed another smile. “Thank you for calling, Uncle. It was good to hear from both you and Nanako.”

“Feel free to call anytime too, you hear? It's good to hear from you. Take care. And if you can make it to Inaba, any time, you know your room is waiting for you.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Uncle. You too.” The line went dead, and Yu set the phone down. For a moment afterward, he couldn't make himself move—and when he finally did, he flicked the heat under the skillet off with a grumble. _My parents are adults. They can fend for themselves. In their own house._ The rest of the ganmo went into the freezer, leaving a portion for him now and one to keep in the fridge for lunch.

Once the food was safely put away, Yu stumbled back until he hit the wall, crossing his arms over his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut. Nothing in his life made sense anymore. No Personas, no Shadows, no Nanako and Dojima, no friends... School that made no sense, parents who made no sense, an empty apartment... Just when he'd finally felt comfortable and happy, he'd had to move back to the city. Back in with people who didn't know him, calling themselves his parents or not. Back to quiet, unobtrusive, unremarkable Yu Narukami.

_Back to being alone. The one thing I hate being more than anything._

_Ding-dong~_

Yu froze, his eyes snapping open. _The doorbell?_ His parents couldn't have locked themselves out...right? _No...this is at **my** front door. Who...?_ With a sigh, he pushed himself away from the wall and made his way to the door.

And as soon as it opened, his heart stopped.

“Hey there, partner.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you all for the lovely messages and follows on this! This is really one of my first forays into P4 fanfic, so I'm glad you're all enjoying. Now what you've all been waiting for: chapter 2!

_Saturday April 14 th – Cloudy – Night_

 

Yu couldn't believe his eyes. There was no way that standing right in front of him, in the middle of the city, what felt like a thousand kilometers from everyone he knew and missed...that there was any way this particular city boy should be standing in front of him.

Said misplaced city boy crossed his arms, flicking a stray hair out of his face. “Well, that's quite a welcome. Hi Yosuke, how have you been? What are you doing here? It feels like it's been forever since I've seen you; what have you been up to? Why don't you come in? Oh, thanks Yu, I really appreciate it.” The brunet laughed. “Man, only a month back in the city, and you've already forgotten about me? I see how it is.”

That snapped Yu back to the land of the able-to-talk-people. “I—no, I just—come in. How did you...when...” He stepped away from the door, incapable of picking a sentence to start with.

“Oh good, so you do still talk. Got me worried there.” Yosuke stepped in, slipping out of his shoes and looking around. “Man, sweet place you have here. It's like you have a whole house to yourself.” Yosuke glanced over his shoulder. “Um...I mean, that's what I'm guessing, from what it looks like outside. Is that where your parents live, next door? Kinda cool setup, honestly.”

“Yosuke...how...” Yu shook his head, forcing his brain to slow down enough to talk. “How did you know where I lived?”

“Duh, I still talk to Nanako-chan and Dojima-san. They've got your address.” Yosuke tilted his head, stretching his neck as he let his school bag fall to the floor. “Sorry I got here so late. The train schedule to get out here was kinda weird. I may...have missed a bit of school to get out here even this early.” Yosuke gave Yu a wink, and Yu's brain spiraled out of control again. _He's actually here. This is actually Yosuke._ _What...?_ “But don't worry. I told Chie I had something to take care of, and she's going to take notes for me. And if that doesn't work, I'll just ask Yukiko what I missed. It'll be fine.”

“I...see.” Eloquent to the end, was Yu Narukami. “Um...” He blinked a few times, and then the lingering smell of oil in the air brought him back to something like the person he expected himself to be. “You've been on the train all afternoon. Have you eaten? I just made ganmodoki. There's plenty for both of us.”

“Dude, you cooked for two and you didn't even know I was coming? And something I can eat, even? That's pretty impressive, even for you. Hell, you could have cooked anything and I'd give it a shot. Never had something you made I didn't like. Serve 'em up! I'm starving.”

Yu nodded, gesturing back to the table. “Here, sit down. Make yourself at home. I'm sorry I'm a little flustered. I just...I didn't expect...”

“Hey, it's cool, partner. I would have done the same if you'd suddenly shown up at Junes or something. It's so rare I see you this off your game, it's kinda nice to know something still surprises you.” Yu could hear the grin on Yosuke's face, even as his back was turned as he got the ganmo onto plates. “So how's the big city treating you? Happy to be away from Inaba?”

“It's...different.” He came back with two plates and a couple pairs of chopsticks. “I don't remember it being this loud.”

Yosuke laughed. “Yeah, I guess after a year in Inaba, the roar of the city must be deafening. Still, even now, there's things I miss about a city this big. Okina's nice, but it's still kinda far away and it doesn't have everything.” He shrugged, flipping one of the chopsticks into the air before settling down to the business of the ganmo. Yu couldn't help but see one of Yosuke's fighting daggers instead, in his mind's eye.

“So...what...I mean, it's good to see you. But...what are you doing here? I mean, it's not a short ride, or a cheap ticket,” Yu finally managed to ask.

“Hm? Oh.” Yosuke swallowed the bite he was working on and gave Yu a grin. “I just got bored, ya know? And I've been saving for a while now. The month between you leaving and school starting back up, I just kinda took on as many hours at the store as I could. Didn't have too much else to do, right? And I figured I'd be able to put some aside to come visit some day. Well, I guess my dad decided that I was 'taking initiative' or some crap, so I got a bonus just before the school year started. With that, I totally had enough to come out! I mean, it's just for a day and all, 'cause I need to get back to school on Monday. Man, it hardly seems worth it, ya know? But I guess that's the choice I made.”

The light went off for Yu on that. “Wait, so you saved up all that money...so you could spend a few hours here in the city...with me? You're going to have to leave mid-afternoon tomorrow to get back to Inaba in time to rest for school on Monday.”

“He-ey, there's a sentence long enough to be from the Yu Narukami I remember!” Yosuke grinned, but the smile faded to something softer after a moment. “I know, it's kinda crazy. I just...I know school's only been in session for what, a few days now? But it's not the same without you around. I guess it was kinda a spur-of-the-moment decision. Even if it's just a few hours, that's better than nothing to me. Right?”

That, Yu could answer on instinct. “Right. Absolutely.” Finally— _finally—_ he got himself to smile like a normal person. “I'm glad to see you, Yosuke. You're right, it already feels like it's been too long.”

“Good to hear you say it, partner. Now eat your ganmo before it gets gross. It's really good, by the way. Thanks for the food. Still don't know why you had so much, though.”

“Oh.” Yu blinked. “I...was on the phone, and just figured it would be enough for lunch tomorrow as well. It's no big deal.” _Tomorrow's not a school day anyway. Where was my brain? ...Oh right. Inaba._ “So. Tell me what it's like in that tiny town of yours, now that I'm not there.”

“Hah.” Yosuke set down his chopsticks, the ganmo already gone. “It's fun and exciting as ever. Everyone's either trying to get into a college or someone's skirt—or both, I guess. Oh, I meant to ask.” Yosuke's expression turned a shade more serious. “I hear you and Chie decided not to try for long-distance?”

Yu's eyes dropped to his plate as he nodded. “It's for the best. We called it off before I left.” As much as he'd enjoyed being with Chie, and had exceptionally fond memories of the past Christmas, they both knew it wasn't something that could last over that kind of distance—and wasn't likely to last long term regardless. In the end, their personalities were different enough that it wasn't working out as cleanly as they'd hoped. It had been sad, but inevitable.

“Man. I barely knew she'd confessed to you, honestly. But I guess that makes sense. You talked to her at all since you came back here?”

Yu shook his head. “No, I haven't had much of a chance. I've only spoken to a few people.”

“Well, I guess as soon as school started back up, Ichijo—you know, from class 2-1? well, I guess it's 3-1 now; man that's weird—anyway, he came up and confessed to her! She accepted, which I mean I suppose is a little quick, and I didn't even know she liked him, but... Man, I don't even know what to think about it. Whatever makes her happy, I guess.”

Yu's lips quirked into an amused smile. “Really. Good for Kou.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I guess you knew him, right? I forgot about that stint on the basketball team. Guess you knew he liked her, huh?”

Yu shrugged. “He'd mentioned it. I didn't think he'd actually act on it. I'm glad, though. I think they'll be a well-matched couple.”

Yosuke stretched out. “Seems like everyone's got their own matches now. Chie's going out with Ichijo, I guess Ebihara and that soccer player friend of Ichijo's started seeing each other—”

Yu choked. “What? Daisuke and Ebi?”

“Yeah, I dunno man. I don't know either of them really well, but Chie said something about having to spend more time with Ebihara now, because of how well the two guys get along.” The brunet spread his hands in an empty gesture. “Don't know details. Oh, but get this.” Yosuke leaned forward, a glint in his eyes. “Yukiko confessed to someone.”

That got Yu's attention. “Really? She really must be serious about staying with the inn then. Who? Did he accept?”

“Of course he accepted; you've gotta be stupid not to accept a confession from Yukiko Amagi. And get this—it's like the perfect match. She's going out with Saki-senpai's brother.”

If Yu's eyes widened anymore, they'd fall out of his head. “Naoki? Really?” Thinking about it, Yosuke was right; it did seem a perfect match. They both had family ties to the area, and had needed to come to terms with wanting to stay around and help the family business. Neither of them were comfortable around large groups of people, but had a quiet sort of passion that was easy to miss. Plus, they both had a wicked sense of humor, once you got to know them. “Huh. I hadn't thought of it, but you're entirely right.”

Yosuke's grin widened. “Right? Man, if Saki-senpai and I were going to be some kind of star-crossed lover story, Yukiko and Naoki is the total opposite. Seriously though, they seem really happy about it. It's both kinda cute and totally weird.”

“Hmm.” Yu smiled. “Anyone else? Seems like everyone paired off as soon as I left. What about Kanji?”

“Hah!” Yosuke cracked up. “Come on, be serious. You think either of them has made a move on the other? Kanji's going to wait until Naoto confesses, and Naoto is never going to get up the nerve to say anything to Kanji because that's the exact opposite of how she rolls. They're totally hopeless.” He shook his head. “They _are_ talking more often, though. It's sickeningly adorable, if I'm totally honest. It's so obvious that Kanji's got the hots for her, I kinda just wish one of them would say something. They'd both be happier without that over their heads.

_I wondered why Naoto hadn't mentioned Kanji at all. I wonder if she'd talk to me about it._ “I agree.” Yu stretched, finished with his own food, and took the plates back to the kitchen. _I can deal with those later._ “What about you?”

“Huh? What about me?”

“Have you found a girl you'd like to confess to you?” Somewhere, deep inside, Yu wasn't sure he was ready for his best friend to have a girlfriend. Somehow, the rest of this friends having significant others was fine, but... There was something about the bond he'd forged with Yosuke that he wasn't sure wouldn't be changed by the addition of someone else. Not that he thought that Yosuke would forget about him, but... He couldn't describe it.

...at least, not without sounding like a petulant child.

“Nah.” And with one word, a huge weight lifted from Yu's chest. “I haven't really given it a huge thought since...well, since Saki-senpai, I guess. I've just been thinking about the case so much, and then I was working at Junes all the time, and now I guess it's just back into school. I may hate it, but I need to pay a little more attention in school now if I want to go to any kind of decent uni. Ugh. I should just stay in Inaba and help manage Junes, like Dad's been talking about.” A beat, and then he laughed. “Man. Did you ever think I'd say that?”

“It does seem unlike you.” Yu had to smile. It was true, the Yosuke he'd met when he first came to Inaba never would have said that. But it was easier to see how much everyone had changed from the outside. _I wonder if they can see anything like that in me. ...Have I really changed at all?_ “So tell me, Yosuke. You said school has only been in session for a few days. Even for you, that seems like a shorter tolerance than normal.”  
  
“What? Come on, dude! Do you even need to ask? It's _school_!” Yosuke groaned. “At least it's not like last year, with King Moron and Kashiwagi. My homeroom teacher is approaching some kind of normal this time.”

Yu let Yosuke detail his classes, letting the words fill his brain and block out all the tension from his own school. For the first time since he'd left Inaba, Yu felt like he could relax. If he didn't pay close attention, he could imagine they were sitting in his room at Dojima's house, with the faint noise of Nanako's game show playing downstairs...the soft sound of the coffeemaker as his uncle made drinks for everyone...the dog that always seemed to be barking outside at night, and Yosuke talking about classes. It felt right. It felt _normal._

“Hello? Earth to Yu, you awake in there?”

Yu blinked rapid fire, focusing back in on Yosuke. “I'm sorry, what?”

“Man, I know school's boring, but you're the one who asked. Did you even hear my question?”

Yu's gaze dropped. “No, I'm sorry. I...” He sighed, raising his gaze again to look out the window. “I got wrapped up in thinking that it...” He trailed off, scratching his head.

Yosuke's eyebrows furrowed. “Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right? You're my best friend, partner.” He leaned in, elbows on the table. “What's up?”

Yu hesitated, but then glanced back to his friend. “It felt normal, for the first time since I left Inaba. With you here, talking about school...” He shook his head. “Nothing's felt right since I returned. It's strange. I knew my classmates here for a year before I left, and I knew you all for a year, but everyone here... It's like I never existed. I was never close to anyone anyway, but...”

“Hey.” Yosuke swatted at him. “For one, you and me and all our friends back at Yasogami went through a hell of a lot more in that year than you did your year here. Right?” Yu managed a faint smile and a nod. “And two...thanks, man.” Yosuke grinned. “I know it's weird, but it's really good to hear you say that.”

“Say...which part, exactly?” Yu's head tilted.

“That this feels normal.” He gestured between the two of them. “I'm not gonna lie, there was a part of me that was really afraid that after you went back here...you wouldn't look back.” Before Yu could protest, Yosuke put a hand up. “I know, I know. I didn't mean that you'd forget about us, I just...” He crossed his arms. “I know how I felt, when I moved to Inaba. I wanted to get back to a city more than anything. I never really thought you felt that same way, especially by the time you left, but...I guess you're just pretty hard to read still, partner.” The brunet gave him an honest smile. “I'm never quite sure with you.”

Yu managed a smile back, though it felt like his heart was breaking. _They can't read me... I can't say I'm surprised. Of all of them, I'm the one who never had his Shadow truly revealed. How could they ever think...?_ “Did the others...?” He couldn't finish the sentence.

“What, think the same? I never asked, but I think we all kinda wondered. I'm not exactly proud to say I doubted you, but...” Yosuke scratched his head. “Well, you've pretty much seen all the parts of me I'm not proud of; what's one more?” Yosuke laughed, and Yu's smile widened to match. “Anyway, back to the question I asked that you didn't hear. I was wondering when you were going to be able to get back for a visit. I know it's kinda soon, but there's no chance you'll snag some time during Golden Week...is there?”

The smile faded, and Yu sighed. “I don't know. I want to, and I have the money for the ticket. I just...” He glanced at the door.

Yosuke's eyes followed. “What, your parents? Why would they have a problem with it?”

“They want me focused on my future.” He couldn't help the bitterness in his voice. “Looking at colleges, studying for placement exams, thinking of a future job.”

“And...you have to do that over Golden Week?” Yosuke's eyebrows raised.

“I don't think it's about Golden Week.” Yu let his gaze match his friend's, knowing that for all his lack of focus in school, Yosuke wasn't stupid.

Sure enough, Yosuke's face twisted in a grimace. “Oh, come on, man. You're serious? And you're just supposed to pretend you didn't live somewhere else for a year? Didn't make friends? Just totally abandon everything?”

“My father was born and raised in Tokyo. Small towns are places for...” Yu winced, but finished the sentence, despite his better judgment. “...unimportant people to live.”

“Unim- _portant_...!” Yosuke sputtered.

Yu held up a hand. “That's what he thinks. And my mother...” He shook his head. “My mother loves her brother, and is grateful that I had somewhere to live last year. But Inaba isn't a 'real' place to her. It's just that tiny town where her brother decided to waste his life. It's not a place for someone with a future.” Yu couldn't keep looking at Yosuke. “It was a nice experience, but now it's time to look for something real.”

“You've got to be kidding.” Yosuke's complaint met silence, and he stood up. “Come on, man! There's no way you can just let them do that to you! So what, they're just going to keep you locked up here the whole school year?” When Yu still didn't answer, Yosuke groaned. “Yu...”

“Trust me, I'm not happy about it, and I'm not giving up,” he finally murmured. “They don't...they _won't_ understand. They won't listen.” Yu stood as well, moving to sit on the couch. “Would you believe, they never asked me about my year?”

The brunet was agape. “You're kidding! Not once?”

Yu shook his head. “They picked me up at the station, told me they were so thrilled to finally have me back in the city, and they just couldn't wait to tell me all about their year abroad. As if there was nothing at all that could have happened in Inaba to be worth mentioning.”

“Well, I mean that's probably true of a normal year, but...to not even ask? I don't get your parents, man.”

“Neither do I.” He stared across at the blank television. _Hey, have you guys heard that rumor about watching a TV on a rainy day?_ A voice calling to him, the screen rippling like a pool of water disrupted by a stone...

“Hey.” Yu's head lifted at the sound of Yosuke's voice. “Have you ever...?” He nodded to the TV. “I mean, who even knows where you'd end up from all the way out here, but...”

Yu shook his head. “It doesn't work. I can't go through. It was probably just the TVs in Inaba.” He tilted his head. “Can you all still go through?”

Yosuke shrugged. “We could for a while, but I guess it wore off or something. Ted can still come through and go back, but that's probably because he's from over there. There's really nothing to do over there anymore anyway. It's really pretty, but that's about it. If I just want nice scenery, I can go up to the overlook hill.” Yosuke sat down on the floor near the couch. “That sucks about your parents though, man. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Unless you can come up with a compelling reason for two business-minded people to agree to let their only son go off to a tiny town you see no worth in, then I'm not sure this is a fight you can help me win.” Yu hated the weight of futility that pressed down on him every time he thought about this. He hated feeling trapped.

He _hated_ how alone he was here.

Yosuke snapped his fingers. “What if I say my dad's offering you a management position at Junes? I bet he would too! He was always really impressed when you came to help me out.”

Yu gave Yosuke a grateful smile. “Somehow, I don't think Junes is exactly what my parents are thinking of.”

“Come on, it's worth a shot, isn't it? I can even say that's why I'm here!” Yu wasn't convinced, but his partner was too fired up to hear argument. “It'll be perfect. Hey, when are they going to be back anyway? It's like being back at Dojima-san's.”

“You aren't the first to make that connection...” Yu murmured.

Just as he finished, he heard the door to his parents' house open and close. “Yu-kun? You awake? We're home!” his mother called.

Yosuke was already on his feet, eyes desperate. “Come on, partner. Let me at least try.”

Yu sighed. “All right. It can't do any harm.”

_And hey, if my parents meet a friend of mine from Inaba, they have to at least acknowledge that the last year happened, right...?_


	3. Chapter 3

_Saturday April 14 th – Cloudy – Night_

 

Yu led Yosuke over to the other house, trying to think of how he was going to explain this once they got there. He'd never had a guest over, and certainly not one this late at night. Did his parents care about guests? _They seem to care about everything else I do..._ He took a breath and slid open the door adjoining the two houses and stepped through.

“Welcome home,” he intoned to the house at large.

A few seconds later, his mother stepped out and gave him a smile. “Oh good, you are awake, Yu-kun.” She was still dressed for work, in her black slacks and blazer over a pastel blouse. Her silvering black hair was pulled up out of her face in a messy bun, and her smile only flickered for a moment when she noticed Yosuke behind Yu. “Oh, and you have a guest. I'm sorry, I didn't realize. Is this a friend of yours from school? It's awfully late for company, dear.”

“Um, well...” Yu hesitated.

Yosuke jumped on the opportunity, and stepped around Yu to offer a hand to the woman. “I'm sorry for the surprise visit, Mrs. Narukami. My name is Yosuke Hanamura. I'm one of Yu's friends from Inaba.”

Yu's mother blinked, but shook Yosuke's hand without losing her smile. “Well! That certainly is a surprise. Yu hasn't said a word about his life last year; I hadn't even known he'd made friends. Glad to see my worries were unfounded.” She leaned back to call down a hallway. “Michio? Come meet one of Yu-kun's friends. Are you visiting for the weekend, Yosuke-kun? That must have been an expensive train ticket.”

Yu bit his tongue hard to keep from commenting on his mother' s word choice about last year. Luckily, Yosuke was holding his own in the conversation, and wasn't giving Yu any time to complain. “Oh, the train was no trouble. My father's a branch manager at the Junes that came to Inaba a little under two years ago now, and I've been working for the store.”

“That's nice,” his mother mused, and Yu could hear Yosuke's argument losing before he'd even started. Even with Junes being a major company, they were still just a retail chain to his parents.

A moment later, Yu's father stepped out. Yu had heard his whole life that he was the spitting image of his father, and as a younger man, he'd been proud of that. Now, when he looked at the man in front of him with his silver-grey hair and his stormy grey eyes hidden behind glasses that reminded Yu all too much of foggy nights and thunderstorms, all he felt was frustration and pain. Misunderstandings. Miscommunication. “Ah, a guest indeed. Good evening.” Yu's father offered his hand.

Yosuke took it in a firm handshake. “Good to meet you, Mr. Narukami. Your son spoke of you both quite highly. It's nice to be able to be able to put a face with a name.”

Yu blinked, but otherwise managed to hide his shock. _He's playing them. ...Or at least, he's trying to. I didn't think Yosuke had it in him. I only wish it would work..._

Mr. Narukami chuckled. “Did he now. Well, that's good to know. What's this I hear about Junes?”

“Oh, yes—my father is the branch manager out in Inaba, see. We got transferred in there almost two years ago now; it's unfortunate to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, but we're doing what we can. Anyway, since Yu here was gracious enough to help out when we were short staffed, my father got a feeling for his work ethic. It's more dedicated than most of the people who grew up there, as I'm sure you can imagine. So when he left Inaba, it was a real blow to the store, even with him just as a fill-in employee. So I was sent right back here on a runaway mission to see if I can't convince Yu to return to Inaba and work as an assistant manager, training to work his way up as soon as he leaves high school. Tuition assistance would be available too, I'd imagine. We can't have our managers uneducated.”

 _Well, he's got them listening._ Yu couldn't tell if his parents were humoring Yosuke, or if they were genuinely listening to his proposal, but with a little polished fast-talk and what was likely some blatant lies, the city boy at least sounded like he belonged near their crowds. Yu couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for his friend. _How could I ever have doubted that they'd miss me?_

“Mmm,” his father intoned, nodded. “That's a very flattering proposition. Be sure to pass along to your father when you return that we appreciate the gesture, but that Yu already has several lucrative prospects here in the city, and it wouldn't make much sense for him to leave now.” The man turned a smile to Yu, oblivious to his son's shattering world. “Which reminds me, once your guest is gone—I don't want to interrupt your time, of course—I've got some exciting news for you from a couple of my coworkers. These could really be something.”

“Thanks,” Yu managed to reply, and gave his father a slight bow. “If you'll excuse us, Yosuke's had a long journey and we ought to get our rest.”

“Oh of course, of course,” his mother replied, fluttering over to kiss Yu's hair. “That train must have taken _ages_ to get here from all the way out there. You two rest. We can talk later, Yu-kun.”

“Good night, Mother.” The two younger men both bowed as they left, and Yu made a beeline back to his front door.

Once the door had shut, Yosuke's polite facade fell. “Wow, your parents are kinda assholes.”

“I know.” Yu's fists clenched. _Prospects... If they're from Father's coworkers, they'll be doctors. Lawyers. Accountants. Nothing I want any part of. I saw Sayoko's job, and I don't want it. I saw what the doctors at Inaba Memorial had to go through, and I don't want it. ...Dammit._

“And man, I thought I had them for a second, until your dad completely dismissed me. And I thought talking to my dad was bad.” There was a beat of silence, and then Yu felt Yosuke's hand on his shoulder. “I'm sorry, partner. Thanks for letting me try anyway.”

Yu took a deep breath, forcing his hands to relax as he nodded and turned to Yosuke. “I'm glad you did. I thought they were listening for a moment as well. I should have known better than to get my hopes up.” He opened his mouth to change the subject when a distant sound from his room interrupted him. _What...?_

“What?” Yosuke asked, following Yu's line of sight.

“I thought I heard something.” The sound repeated, and Yu finally placed it. “My phone. I must have left it in my bag.” He ducked into his room, fishing the phone out and walking back with it, bringing up the message on the screen.

 _GOOD EVENING. DID HE MAKE IT THERE SAFE?_ it read.

Yu's lips twitched into the beginnings of a smile. “Did you tell anyone you were coming?”

“Huh? No, I figured they'd all get jealous and want to come with, and I didn't think a mass invasion was as good of a surprise. Why? Did someone figure it out?”

“Three guesses on who,” Yu responded, tapping back a message. _Yes. Took me by utter surprise. You guessed?_

Yosuke's eyes narrowed as he plopped to sit on the couch, arms folded. “Well let's see. It won't be Chie or Yukiko; they're not that suspicious. Teddie's even worse than them. Kanji wouldn't—oh. It's Naoto, isn't it?”

Yu grinned and nodded. “Yup. Can't hide anything from the Detective Prince.”

“Huh. I didn't know you and Naoto talked that much.” Yosuke turned to face Yu as he joined Yosuke on the couch. “Guess I shouldn't be surprised that she figured it out, though.”

“We usually talk when neither of us can sleep,” Yu murmured, another text coming in stealing his attention.

_NOT DIFFICULT. LEFT IN MIDDLE OF SCHOOL, V. SECRETIVE. OBV. HE MISSES YOU MOST. WHERE ELSE WOULD HE GO?_

“You have insomnia?” Yosuke asked.

Yu blinked, then looked up, blinking again. “What? I'm sorry, I didn't... what?” Naoto's words had pulled him up short. _Obviously... Where else..._ A familiar twinge in his chest caught his breath and wouldn't let go, though he still wasn't sure why.

Yosuke's eyes narrowed. “Are you having dirty conversations over there?”

Yu felt his face flush. “Wh-what? N-no, of course not. I just, I was reading at the same time as you spoke, and I must have missed it. I'm sorry.”

“I asked if you had insomnia. I didn't know. I've had bouts of it ever since...well, that whole incident, really. You can always text me too, bro.”

Yu went to answer—and then heard what Yosuke's tone was saying, where his words were not. “I know I can. She was the one who started the late-night conversations. It's not that I chose her over you.”

Now it was Yosuke's turn to looks flustered and flushed. “I didn't say—well okay, maybe I thought it a little, b-but...” He sighed, ruffling his hair. “Man, I don't know how you do that. It's like you read my mind sometimes.” He offered a sheepish smile. “I'm glad it's not like that, though.”

Yu gave him a smile. “You're the best friend I made in Inaba, Yosuke. You're the one who told me distance doesn't change anything. No matter where we are, we'll always be friends.” He offered Yosuke his hand.

After a beat, Yosuke's classic grin found its way to his face, and he shook Yu's hand. “You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. Guess I just made myself paranoid over nothing.” He peered forward, trying to see the screen of the phone. “What's Naoto saying, anyway?”

“Just explaining her deductions to me.” Yu gave the screen a small smile as he tapped a message back. _I miss you all. Seeing Yosuke just reminds me of that. I can't wait until I can figure out a way to come back._ He'd told Naoto about his parents' reluctance to let him come back to Inaba, and she'd sympathized. Of course, she'd also suggested she could send a police escort and pull him back to Inaba under slightly less than accurate charges, but he'd gently steered her away from falsely arresting him.

“Yu?” Yosuke's voice brought Yu's gaze back up to him, and his friend's eyes were already watching his, concern radiating off of him. “You're really acting weird, man. I know you're kinda quiet, but this seems...I dunno, more quiet than usual.”

Yu sighed, setting the phone away from him. “I'm sorry, Yosuke. I...” He let a beat pass before looking back to his friend. “I did face my Shadow, you know. At the very end, in the fight against Izanami.”

Yosuke rocked back on his heels, eyes wide. “Whoa, really? You never told us about that.”

“It wasn't as dramatic as everyone else's, but... when you all got dragged down, trying to save me from her attacks... I was the last man standing. Everyone else was gone, and I was devastated, certain you'd all been killed. I was alone before her, and as she pulled me down, I knew that in the fog...everyone would still be there. I wouldn't have to come back to the city. I could live in a world exactly the way I wanted.” Yosuke crossed his arms, eyes still wide. “It would have been so simple. So easy. And I never would have needed to be alone again. But...” His voice trailed off.

“But what?” Yosuke asked, his voice just above a whisper.

“But then I could hear you all. Everyone I'd made friends with—people from the school, from my part-time jobs, Nanako-chan and Uncle... I could hear you all reminding me of the strength we'd found together. That I had supported you all...and now it was your turn to support me. And I could see my Shadow, reflected like he was in a TV. 'I don't want to think about a life without my friends. I don't want to go back to what I was before; I don't want to be alone again.' That's what it told me. And it was right. For a moment, I almost let my fear get the best of me. I almost gave in, and let myself take the easy path because it meant I wouldn't have to go back to a world where all my friends had been taken from me.”

“Yu...” Yosuke sounded choked.

“But I'm never really alone.” Yu managed a smile for his friend. “And all of you in that moment reminded me of that. Even if I lost everything...I'd never truly be alone again. And I found my way back to defeat her. And...well, you remember us finding each other in the TV world after that.”

Yosuke couldn't speak for a moment, and when he finally could, his voice couldn't decide whether to be angry or pained. “Why don't you ever tell any of us this kind of thing? Dammit, Yu! We're here to support you too—just like you said! So why am I only hearing about this now?”

“It was just before I left. The mood was already a little tenuous; I didn't want to bog it down with something as serious as that.”

“And you don't think we were taking you leaving as something serious?”

“That's...” Yu sputtered. “That's not what I mean.”

“I know.” Yosuke gave an exasperated smile. “We always come talk to you because you're the quiet and calm one. Just don't forget that you can lean on us too. We're all here to protect you, just as much as you protect us.”

Yu took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he exhaled. “I know. I think I forget sometimes, even after a year, because you're the first close friends I've ever had. But I know. And I thank you. It truly means the world to me.”

“Well good, because you pretty much mean the world to us.” Yosuke's grin resurfaced. “Remember what I told you about being special to people? When you say we're special to you, just keep in mind that you're special to us too.” Abruptly, a yawn interrupted anything he might have said after that, and both of them laughed. “Man, I guess your parents were right about one thing. I'm beat. You have a spare futon somewhere?”

“I...yeah, let me get it.” Yu pushed himself to his feet, heading for the closet he knew his parents had tucked a spare futon so that he could get it set up for Yosuke. Something about this whole night still felt incredibly surreal, and he knew it was going to be a harsh jolt of cold water when Yosuke had to leave again the next afternoon, but for the first time in a while...he felt peaceful. He felt at home in his own house. He felt _normal._

 _When you say we're special to you, just keep in mind that you're special to us too._ That twinge came back, and he swallowed hard, trying to push it away. He didn't understand it, but he was starting to get an idea of what it meant, and that...that wasn't something he could deal with right now. That wasn't something he could acknowledge while Inaba was barricaded from him.

 _I forgot to tell Mother to call Uncle. I'll have to tell her in the morning. Uncle will understand._ It was late by now anyway. Dojima was probably asleep, and though he was spending more time at home, he was still working hard. Being a detective, even in the sleepy version of Inaba, wasn't easy.

He set up the futon, then came back to Yosuke, who was peering at his own phone. “Something interesting?” Yu asked.

The brunet lifted his head and smiled, shaking his head no. “Nah, just looking at...um, train stuff. Making sure about times and whatever.”

“Ah.” Yu tried to not let his heart sink too far. “Oh, I have the futon set up.”

“Cool.” Yosuke grabbed his bag. “I'll go get ready for bed then.” As Yosuke headed for Yu's room to get changed and ready for bed, Yu looked at the few dishes they'd dirtied sitting in the sink. _I can clean those tomorrow. After he leaves. They're not that important._ Drifting back, he picked up his phone from where he'd left it earlier, and saw he'd gotten two messages in the meantime.

_FEELING IS MUTUAL FRM ALL. WILL FIND U A WAY BACK. WILL CONVINCE UR UNCLE IF NEEDED. U KNOW I WILL._

Yu smiled. It was true; his uncle wouldn't need much convincing, especially after their conversation earlier. He scrolled to the next message.

_CALL ONCE Y IS GONE? WOULD LIKE 2 TALK. THINKING OF U. GOOD NIGHT._

Though he was fairly certain that Naoto was asleep by now, he sent back a quick _good night_ text in return before pocketing his phone. Yosuke was tucked inside the spare futon by the time he went back to his room, so he changed quickly and slid into his own, trying not to disturb the potentially sleeping brunet.

But as soon as he stilled, Yu could hear a soft voice from his left. “G'night, partner.”

Around the lump in his throat, Yu responded. “Good night, Yosuke.”

He would sleep well tonight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had far too much fun writing this chapter. Yosuke tries so hard (and really, does a good job!) and then... I've always envisioned Yu's parents as these serious business-types who don't let anything stand in their way, and from what I've seen in friends and whatnot, that usually transfers down to the kids. They are wonderful and successful, and thus Yu must be as well! Just how they want him to be.
> 
> Also, this is especially a place where you see where I've blended worlds. I really love the fact that Yu sees his Shadow in the animation, but I like the representation of how he hears the support of his Social Links better from the game. So since this is MY STORY (lol) and they technically are the same world/story line/blah blah, I just combined them! :D For great success.
> 
> Also, the introduction of one of my other favorite characters! :D If you're reading Thunderstorm/Lightning, they happen in the same universe as this one, just Thunderstorm takes place about ...what did I figure. Get It Back is in April, and I believe Thunderstorm is in mid-to-late May. This story gets mentioned in Thunderstorm (or will, in future chapters) so it's been fun bouncing back and forth. Yu and Naoto have a very interesting relationship dynamic, and you'll get to see more of that in a later chapter of this story.
> 
> Thank you all for the lovely comments; I'm glad everyone's enjoying! Sorry for the long pause between chapters; life has been eating me and the words aren't coming as easily as I'd like. But thank you for your patience, and I'll see you in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaaay I'm bad at posting things *hides* but Angevon reminded me I haven't updated this in a thousand years and I'm SO SORRY but here's a chapter now! Enjoy!

_Sunday, April 15 th – Sunny – Morning_

 

Sunlight was starting to trickle past the blinds and fall on Yu's face by the time he finally stirred. _Damn. What...time is it?_ If he'd horribly overslept and wasted the rest of Yosuke's time here...

He squinted at the clock on the far wall. Nine in the morning. Late for him, but not terrible.

Belatedly, he noticed that the futon that had been next to him was no longer set up, and the young man who had occupied it wasn't in immediate eyesight. Yu blinked a few times, rubbing a hand over his eyes, and sat up. No, his room was empty, and from the looks of it, Yosuke had rolled up the futon and set it next to the closet.

_He didn't...!_ It was too early for the train to have come, right? Of course, Yosuke needed to get back to Inaba for school tomorrow, but nine AM was early even for that long of a ride...

He scrambled to his feet, ignoring his futon in favor of dealing with it later, and made his way into the house proper. “Yosuke?” _Please answer, please oh God please, don't have left already, why would you leave without saying goodbye—i_

“In here, partner,” came the reply, and Yu finally breathed again. He was in the office-slash-spare bedroom. Yu took a deep breath before heading into the room, where Yosuke was already dressed with his hands in his pockets, looking at a photograph sitting on a bookshelf. When Yu entered, his gaze got drawn to the door, and Yosuke smiled. “Morning. Hey, you okay? Looks like you got up in kinda a hurry.”

Yu blinked, and subconsciously ran a hand through his hair. There was no telling what he looked like, standing there with bed-mussed hair and rumpled pajamas. “I...” _I thought you were gone. I thought you'd left._ He couldn't say that. One, it would offend Yosuke that Yu would have even thought that his partner would leave without saying goodbye. And two, it sounded like...

He couldn't think about that. He _couldn't_ think about that.

Yu finally just shook his head. “Guess I just woke up disconcerted, and then noticed you were already up.”

“Oh, sorry. I guess it's not nice to vanish on people, huh? I just didn't want to wake you up.” Yosuke turned back to the bookshelf and gestured to a photograph. “You still have this.”

“Hm?” Yu stepped forward and looked. “Ah. Of...of course I do.” He'd dedicated an entire shelf of the bookcase to objects that reminded him on Inaba. In the center, of course, was the group photo they'd taken not long before he'd left.

“Well, I guess it's not a surprise, just... You framed it.” Yosuke seemed oddly touched by it.

“It deserved to be framed.” Yu shrugged.

“I guess...wait.” Yosuke crouched and peered at the back of the shelf, then let out a squawk of protest. “Why the hell is _this_ in a frame!?” He reached in and pulled out a smaller photograph, looking up at Yu in accusation.

Yu tried to hide the smile behind his hand. It was the cell phone photo he'd taken of Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie while they were at the...suspicious hotel in Tatsumi Port Island. “It deserved to be framed?”

“Like hell it did. Ugh, I can't believe you kept this.” But there was still a smile on Yosuke's lips, and he hesitated just a little as he set it back on the shelf. Next to Yosuke's attention was the pair of black glasses, sitting right next to the larger picture. The brunet flopped back to sit cross-legged in front of the bookshelf. “Wow, you have these too. Why's the lens broken? When'd that happen?” Yosuke leaned back to look up at Yu.

An indescribable jolt shot through Yu, and he desperately tried to regain what little composure he seemed to have nowadays. “In the battle with Izanami. I don't know what caused it. It was right at the end...they just cracked and I threw them away. But I found them back in my room when we all got home again. I don't know how it happened, but I decided to hold onto them.” Yu slowly lowered himself to sit down as well, trying to keep in a reasonable line of sight for Yosuke without crowding him.

Yosuke nodded, tracing a fingertip over the frames but not picking them up. Most of the rest of the shelf was similar objects: a handful of movie tickets, some of which Yosuke would recognize as movies he'd seen with him; a tucked-away (and decidedly not framed) print of the boys in their 'Miss Yasogami' get-ups; a well-worn script covered in notes that he'd gotten from Yumi just before she'd confessed (Yu still felt bad about that); a letter in an envelope addressed to Kou; a string of beads that could have been made by no one other than Nanako...

Yosuke frowned and reached in, picking up a small object and showing it to Yu. “Um? Not really your style, man.”

Yu blinked and looked; it was the compact Ai had given him. “Oh. That's...uh, that's Ebi's. She...” Yu sighed. “It's a long and a little uncomfortable story. You remember how I was dating her briefly?” Yosuke nodded. “It...has to do with that. In a way. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to deflect. Most of the story is just Ebi's to tell and not mine.”

“No, that's cool. I get it.” Yosuke put it back. “I figured it was something like that.” Next was a small watch that lit up when Yosuke pressed one of the buttons. “Oh cool, this is sweet.”

Yu suddenly felt his face burn. “That's just...it's nothing really...”

“Out of range? What's that supposed to mean?” Aaaand Yosuke had pressed too many buttons. Now, when Yosuke looked back to Yu as the latter didn't answer, his eyes got wide. “Dude! Now I have to know! What's with the watch?”

“It's...n-nothing.” He snatched it out of Yosuke's hands, placing it back gently on the shelf. “J-just a present. It's out of range of its...um.” Yu snapped, trying to come up with a word that would make sense. “Base.” Yup, nailed it.

“Base?” Yosuke wasn't sold. “What, like a charging station, or a sync fob?”

“Yes.” That answer came way too quickly. “Exactly. I left it back in Inaba, and I don't wear it as much now so I never asked for Uncle to mail it to me. It's nothing, really. Just a toy.”

“...sure, partner.” Thank God, Yosuke dropped the subject. That wasn't a conversation he was ready to have, and certainly not with Yosuke. He wasn't sure how to explain it to himself, and he'd been the one doing it... He mentally shook himself, pushing images of Tatsuhime in the snow away. None of that would do anyone any good.

“So what are we gonna do today, partner?” Again, Yosuke's voice brought him back to the present.

“I...hadn't given it much thought. I know we're working on a somewhat limited timeframe, but...maybe we could roam around the city a little? There's an interesting looking action flick playing at the movie theater, and we might have time enough for that.”

Yosuke just grinned. “Sounds like a plan. Let's do it.”

 

_Morning -- > Afternoon_

 

They got into the city proper with plenty of time to spare for the matinee, and enjoyed themselves in spite of the (frankly terrible) movie. By the time it was finished, it was just about lunchtime and Yosuke insisted on Yu letting him buy him lunch.  
  
“You've already spent all this money to get out here...” Yu protested, knowing the words would fall on deaf ears.

“Yeah, yeah. So it won't be anything fancy. C'mon, we'll just go get ramen. I saw a shop not too far away.”

And so Yu let his best friend drag him to the ramen shop, and it almost felt like they were at Aiya again, but without any promise of a massive beef bowl when it rained or a delivery girl who was terrifyingly good at her job or Daisuke and Kou showing up when you least expected it and...

_Dammit._

“Lost in thought again, man?” Yosuke's voice was soft, understanding.

“Yeah.” He poked at his noodles with his chopsticks. “Makes me miss Aiya.”

“Yeah.” The silence that fell over the rest of their meal was thick, but not oppressive. It was like if neither of them talked, they could hear their absent friends in the ambiance. They finished quickly and Yosuke paid, and they walked out into the strip mall again. Yosuke was humming some tune Yu didn't recognize—probably one of the tracks kept forever on loop in his headphones—and looking around without a care in the world.

So clearly, the deafening ticking of the clock was only in Yu's head. He pulled his phone out to look at the time. 1:13 pm. He had to ask. He wished there was anything else he could say, but he needed to ask.

“Hey...Yosuke?”

“Yo.”

“When...” Yu swallowed. “When's your train back to Inaba? I don't want you to be late.”

“Oh. That. Heh...” Yosuke stopped, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. “Well...I may have done something a little irresponsible.”

_He forgot. It was earlier and now he's missed it. He never really had a train ticket back and now I have to buy him one. Fine, I have the money, but then how will I get to Inaba and why..._ Yu pushed the pessimism away. “Oh?”

“I, uh... I changed my ticket.” Yosuke paused, letting the weight of the sentence hit Yu full force before the brunet flashed his trademark sheepish grin and wink. “You seemed really lonely, and what's one day of school missed? I'll get back in Monday night and hit the books again on Tuesday. Dad thinks I got sick and don't want to risk the train trip right now.”

Yu couldn't believe his ears. _Did he really... I can't..._ Yosuke was going to be here another day. He'd be here all day today and part of the day tom... “Wait.” The euphoria deflated a fraction.

“Heh, I was wondering when you'd catch up to that. I told you I'd done something irresponsible.” Yosuke crossed his arms and gave Yu a hopeful look. “Can I convince you to cut classes for one day? Just so that I'm not sitting in your house being bored alone?”

“Yes.” The words were out as soon as Yosuke stopped speaking.

Which seemed to surprise the brunet. “Wow, that was easier than I thought. What happened to the studious, 'no I'm going to the library today' Yu?”

“Left him back in Inaba.” Yu knew there was a ridiculous grin plastered on his face and he couldn't help it. “That's... I can't...” No, no he was not going to cry, that's ridiculous what is WRONG with him.

Yosuke just grinned, but there was something softer—something genuine—behind the smile that came so naturally to him. “I always talk about how much you changed me,” he started, voice low. “But I think I forgot that we must have changed you, too. When you left, we all still had each other to lean on, to see every day, to bitch about homework to. But you...you didn't get any of that. And I think going from what we all had—hell, from that last fight alone!—to being alone in a city, no matter how familiar... Well, I think that'd be rough. And you really look like you could use someone around for a while. I can't push it much farther than I already am, but... I'm here for ya, partner.”

Yu's vision was blurring. He still refused to let the tears fall. “I'm going to do something, and you're going to deal with it. Got it?”

“Sure thing.”

Yu stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Yosuke in a tight hug, setting his forehead to his friend's shoulder. He had absolutely no clue how Yosuke was going to take this; he remembered the last time he'd hugged Yosuke and that had been...awkward, and then Yosuke had sort of half hugged him outside the hospital after they'd left Nanako. But this...

Yu could hear Yosuke chuckle through the vibrations in his chest, and the brunet put one arm around Yu in return. “You're so weird sometimes, man. Glad I made the right choice, though.”

“Thank you,” he mumbled, and he felt Yosuke's hand clench into a fist against his back. Taking a deep breath, he pulled away from Yosuke, shaking his head. “Sorry about that.”

“I think I'll survive a hug from Yu Narukami.” The wink Yosuke gave him sent any doubts he had about whether or not Yosuke was _really_ okay with this right out the window. “So hey. Now that we've got more time, where're we going next?”

“Anywhere's fine with me.”

“Oh come on, pick something. I suggested the movie; you've got to have some kind of idea in your head.”

“Hmm.” Yu looked around, trying to place what he remembered of the city from the last time he lived here. “We could...ah!” He turned back to Yosuke. “There's a park, not too far away, that reminds me of that hill overlooking Inaba. We could grab coffee and go up there.”

“Sounds like a plan, partner.” Yosuke's grin was infectious. “Lead the way.”

He never wanted this to end.

Never.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to you, I'm trying to do this more often. I SWEAR.
> 
> Also, one of my favorite lines so far in the series occurs in this chapter. There's also a tiny bit of crossover in this chapter; a conversation that happens here will be referenced (has been referenced?) in Thunderstorm, since they're in the same universe and this takes place about a month, month and a half before TS.

_Monday, April 16 th – Clear – Night_

 

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end. Yosuke had hidden in Yu's room while Yu had told his parents he was going to school, but once the two had left for work (saying they'd be home late again, as always) Yu had come back in and they'd hit the town. No plan, no organization, just coffee and video games and that lookout point on the edge of the city and more stupid pictures on both of their phones than Yu'd thought his memory card could hold.

But just before dinner, they'd gone to the train station, and Yu decided he knew exactly how they all felt when he'd left Inaba the month before. Yosuke stuck his head out the window and waved until the train was out of Yu's sight.

And only then did Yu let the tears fall.

He barely ate dinner, managing only the barest of greetings to his parents when they got home, along with finally remembering to pass on the message of Dojima's call. His mother had started into some tirade about what her baby brother could possibly want to talk about but fine, she'd call him, why not—and Yu had just left them there, claiming stomach troubles and fallen back to his futon.

The pillow Yosuke had borrowed was still on the floor near Yu's futon. It hadn't been put away with the spare futon. Irrationality won out over logic as Yu picked it up by a corner and pulled it over to him. It had lost most of the musty closet smell over the past two nights, now just smelling like Junes-brand shampoo and the last traces of whatever cologne or body wash or whatever Yosuke used that made him smell the way he did.

... _since when did I notice that Yosuke had a smell? God, what is_ _ **wrong**_ _with me?_

It was a nagging thought in the back of his mind, something that had been there since...he couldn't even remember. New Year's? Christmas? Something that didn't quite line up right, something saying that this wasn't what he thought it was, a terrifying little voice that wanted to know why Yosuke always called him 'partner' and what he meant by it...

And he'd ignored it. He liked girls—he knew he liked girls; there was no question about that. Nothing about his relationship with Chie had been forced. He'd been genuinely interested in her, and it hurt when they'd broken up. And yes, there was a pang of jealousy when he'd heard that she was seeing Kou. It was right alongside his feelings that they'd make a good couple, and he was happy for the both of them.

And then there was her.

He sighed, fishing his phone out of his pocket and bringing up his messages. If he could talk to anyone about any of this, it'd be her. _Hey, you available?_ He knew she'd asked him to call once Yosuke had left, but...

The message came back quickly. _CAN U TALK?_

Yu chuckled, but there wasn't any mirth in the sound. _Don't know how well I trust my voice, but sure._

Another moment passed, and his cell phone buzzed, the Detective Loveline theme playing. He'd never tell Naoto that was her ringtone, but even if he did, he wasn't sure she'd mind. He cleared his throat and answered the call. “Guess that answers my question.”

“You know I told you that you could call at any time,” the soft voice came back to him. “I did mean that truly. It would be a rare circumstance that would prove more important to me than your call.”

Yu had no idea how to categorize his relationship with Naoto. In many ways, it had fallen into their laps, at a time neither of them were prepared or expecting it. They'd been solving a 'case,' as it were—determining who the Phantom Thief was, getting her belongings back. Sure, she'd asked at one point if he thought it was odd that she spoke in such a low tone, and did he like it when she spoke higher? He'd answered honestly, that it didn't much matter to him, but he did like the higher voice. It had been so innocent.

But when he'd seen that knife in the man's hand... Of course he didn't know it was her family butler at the time, or that it was a plastic knife; all he saw was someone threatening Naoto and a sharp pain in his chest that told him he couldn't let anything happen to her. He had found himself in front of her before he remembered moving. Distantly, he heard her insisting that it was fine, the knife was fake, what on earth was he doing... but it wasn't until the man had run off and left the knife behind that the blood stopped rushing in his ears and he realized what had happened.

He was seeing Chie. He loved Chie. So why had he just thrown his life in danger for another woman? He tried to tell himself it was because she was a friend, she was on the team, she was important to him, hadn't he already risked his life saving her from her Shadow, how was this different?

But they both knew it was different. And they stared each other down on the stones in front of the shrine, and knew exactly what he couldn't say. He'd managed to say “I” before she stopped him and had taken off running. All for the best; he wasn't sure he'd have been able to say more.

After that, it had turned into a strange mix of dating and decidedly-not-dating. He'd spent Christmas with Chie, and a few days later had shared an awkward but sweet afternoon with Naoto on the steps of the shrine. They'd exchanged presents, sat watching the snow fall, tempted fate by letting his arm rest around her. Valentine's Day had been much the same; he'd spent the day with Chie, and then a few days later had gone back out to Shichiri Beach with Naoto, watching the waves and eating the chocolates she'd made. Yu spent time with everyone; nothing was suspicious. But that didn't stop them from feeling like they were doing something wrong.

Which to be fair, they probably were.

He'd deflected the issue entirely by giving all of the girls he was close to presents on White Day—all of them handmade. _I think you're all worth my best_ , he'd said, and they'd all insisted that _that wasn't the way it worked_ but seeing Naoto's expression relax and the small smile she'd given him had been worth it.

Chie had asked once, near the end of February, if there was another girl. Yu had stammered and insisted that no, no one else was even close, why would she think such a thing. Chie had smiled and shook her head. _It's fine, you know. I'm not going to_ _ask_ _. I mean, it's kinda sad, but...I trust you. And besides, any relationships got to be hard when you know you're moving away, right?_ He'd agreed that it was hard, but that he was glad she trusted him, and she didn't need to worry, and when he kissed her he felt sick because was he lying, was there really no one else, what was he doing?

Naoto had come to him about two days after White Day, her hat twisted in her hands, and had told him that they needed to remain friends only from that point on. She wasn't interested in a long-distance relationship—not that they'd ever been in a real relationship but he knew what she meant, didn't he—and none of this had been fair to Chie and she couldn't stomach it anymore, no matter how much she... Her sentence trailed off, but he knew what the words unspoken were. They'd spent most of their time not completing sentences, because they knew they shouldn't. “ _This is the first time I... Well, matters of the heart are still difficult.” “It isn't fair. If you...mm. Never mind.”_ She'd given him a tight hug, and they'd gone their separate ways.

The next night, he and Chie had split up. He still had to convince himself some nights that the two events weren't related. They wouldn't have worked long-term, and they both agreed on that. Chie wasn't sure about a long-distance relationship ( _either, either, either_ ) and neither was he. He didn't regret either decision, particularly now that Chie and Kou were together. He'd need to talk to her about that. ...He really should have called her before now.

He brought his attention back to the call at hand. “I know. I just...” He sighed.

“I understand.” That was what he liked the most about Naoto. She heard the words unspoken almost as well as he did. “How was your visit?”

Now he could manage an honest smile. “It was wonderful. I don't think I really realized how much I missed everyone until he was on my doorstep. But...I've missed you all a fair bit even without the reminder.”

“Mmm.” He heard her take a breath, then something rustling in the background. “And we you. The school is truly not quite the same without you.” A beat. “The same could be said, I suppose, of Rise-san.”

“I bet. Your class must be a lot quieter now, right?”

Naoto chuckled. “Much of the school is quieter now, without the local idol to keep them roused up.” There was a beat of silence, comfortable in its commonness between the two. “Naoki Konishi is regularly attending classes again.”

“Mm, I heard,” Yu responded, closing his eyes and letting his free hand run over his face. “I also hear that he and Yukiko are together.”

“They are...something of an item, yes,” Naoto mused. “The rumor mill does appear to confirm that he confessed to her—or she to him, I haven't determined which, and they are spending an unusual amount of time together. However, I will not make definite speculations as to at which what stage their relationship rests.” Yu laughed softly, and he could almost hear the detective blush. “Why are you laughing?”

“The way you speak. I guess I've just missed hearing it.” Naoto made a soft noise of protestation, but didn't seem inclined to add anything further. The memory of a backlight flickering in the dark brought his next comment. “Yosuke saw that watch you made me.”

“...O-oh.” Now it was for certain that she was blushing. “What did he say?”

“Not much. I'll admit to panicking a bit and probably not convincing him that it was nothing.” He opened his eyes, the image of the display clear as day in his mind's eyes, just as it had been since the train left. “Apparently it has a sync station back in Inaba.”

One beat...two beats of silence, and then the detective figured it out. “Ah. ...Well, I s-suppose that's n-not entirely wrong. That is...it _is_ indicating it's out of range, and what it's out of range from...is in Inaba.”

This time, the silence wasn't as comfortable. Yu fished for a different topic—deciding on one which might not be safe, but was one in which he was interested. “So, now that Rise's gone, it's just you and Kanji in your class, isn't it?”

“Wh-what...I mean, y-yes, I suppose so.” He'd flustered her even more, which lent some veracity to his suspicion.

“How are you two getting along?” Yu tried to keep his tone light, but he knew all too well that Naoto would be able to hear the amused smile edging its way onto his lips.

“W-we get along perfectly adequately, as we always have.” The shuffling came back, and Yu tried to discern if she was at her desk moving papers around, or on her futon as he was, and was shifting uncomfortably. Each was just as likely.

“Mmm,” was all Yu offered.

“And what exactly do you mean by that? Don't think I can't hear you laughing at me,” she huffed back at him.

“You two seemed to be close by the end of everything last year. I was just curious if anything had come of that.” Yu tucked his free hand under his head, opening his eyes again to stare at the ceiling.

“I... we...” Naoto couldn't pick a sentence to finish. “Kanji-kun and I made a complimentary fighting team, and as such, we grew closer as the situation warranted. I see n-nothing beyond that to comment on.” Her voice wasn't nearly strong enough to back up her claims. “We remain cordial in classes, and have little reason to see each other outside of that. Any conversation we have is stilted and short.”

“You could make a reason to talk to him.”

She didn't answer for a moment, longer than Yu had expected. He'd never been certain how Naoto actually felt about Kanji, putting aside the latter's massively evident crush on the detective. _Maybe I made the wrong gamble here._

“I...don't...know.” Naoto's voice was halting, a strain in it he hadn't heard in quite some time. “You...are qu-quite aware of my difficulty with comprehending emotions. I haven't... I haven't discerned what my emotions are in relation to him. It's...” He heard her swallow, and the rustling again. _Futon. Has to be futon._ “It's complicated. Difficult. And I still have my doubts that what any of you have implied about him is true.”

Of course, the massively evident crush was only evident if your name _wasn't_ Naoto Shirogane. “It's okay, Naoto,” he murmured. “I'm sorry to push, I didn't mean to make you this uncomfortable.”

“N-no, it's...it's fine.” She sighed. “You are quite possibly the only person I could conceivably talk to about this. And...if I'm honest, it's part of the reason I wanted to talk to you.”

“I jumped the gun.” Yu smiled.

“And you always say that I'm the intuitive one.” He could hear Naoto smiling as well. A moment of silence passed, and this time, she broke it. “What...” She cleared her throat. “What about you?”

“Hm? What about me?”

“Narukami.” Even in that stern tone, she couldn't hide the amusement buried in her voice. “I am sure you know full well what I mean.”

Yu chuckled, then shifted a bit in his futon himself. “If you're wondering if a city girl has swept me off my feet in the past month, I can safely give you a resounding 'no' on that.” Naoto didn't respond, as if she was waiting for something more, and Yu's stomach gave an uncomfortable twist as he swallowed. “Do you... Can I ask you something?”

Naoto's voice was soft and calm, as ever. “Of course. Anything.”

“Do you think...” _How am I going to phrase this..._ “Do you think it's possible...to...” He groaned, tugging at his hair best he could with his hand trapped under his head. “Okay, let me use an example. When we all met you, we thought you were a guy. A kind of disconcertingly cute guy, but a guy.” She chuckled in response. “Then when we fought your Shadow, obviously we found out you weren't. But...you were still cute.”

There was a pause before she answered. “We've now clarified that I confuse people's sexualities.”

“See, but that's what I mean.” Yu brought his hand out from under his head and swung it into the floor, frustrated. “Can you... can someone just be attracted to one person...?”

Another pause. “You mean can an otherwise heterosexual male have sexual feelings for one particular male, and not the rest of the sex?”

_She's so clinical._ But as much as it made him blush, it was exactly what he was trying to ask. “Or...is that weird?”

A soft noise, and then a sigh. _It sounds like she sat up._ “No, I think that falls consistently in the spectrum of sexuality. It... From my research, the topic is not nearly as black and white as most people assume. Sexuality is as personal as many other topics, from gender to movie preferences.” Another pause. “I assume this isn't something you've discussed much.”

“Just to you.” Yu's voice was barely above a whisper, but he was sure she could still hear him.

“Because you fear rejection?”

Yu couldn't respond for a moment. “I don't...” His throat closed up, and he had to clear his throat several times to clear it. “I can't lose him.”

“Mm. A fear of damaging the friendship by unrequited feelings is certainly a risk to be considered in a situation such as this. Particularly when there is...sufficient evidence to indicate that a confession may not be taken as hoped.”

The calm tone Naoto always used while she analyzed a situation was working to keep Yu calm, but the last sentence jolted him. “Wh—I didn't...”

Naoto chuckled. “I am a detective, Yu. However, it doesn't take a detective's intuition to hear how your voice changes when you discuss him. Also, since you were previously inquiring about my own potential entanglement with Kanji-kun, it hardly stands to reason that you would be discussing him. And as the only other male in our immediate group of friends is Teddie...” Yu choked, and Naoto laughed. “Precisely. You have not indicated any other particularly close male friends, and thus my deduction was simple.” Her voice softened. “However, I find it unlikely that you would jeopardize your friendship with this.”

“How...?” Yu's voice could barely make it out of his throat. “You've heard him...around Kanji...”

“It is not uncommon for those uncomfortable with a situation within themselves to project the polar opposite. Kanji-kun himself is a prime example. When he is most comfortable around a pair of knitting needles and kittens, he was uncomfortable being open with that portion of himself for fear of rejection. Thus, he composed the version of Kanji-kun we all met, complete with leather jacket and foul attitude.”

“But...Risette...Yukiko...”

He could hear Naoto tsk. “You were in a romantic relationship with Chie-san. You have expressed an interest in my own appearance, and to my memory, both Rise-san and Yukiko-senpai's as well. To be blunt, Yu, I don't think you have a leg to stand on.”

She was right, in that regard. True, Yosuke had been more vocal on the subject, but it wasn't like he wasn't interested in women primarily as well. Still... “You seem so sure.”

“I have spent a significant amount of time around both of you. I was being honest in my earlier messages when I said that he seemed to miss you the most of any of us, and that I cannot imagine anywhere else he would have rather been this weekend. If...if it was not reciprocated, I imagine he would be flattered, and it may be uncomfortable for a short period of time, but I think...” Naoto paused, then sighed softly. “I think he would be just as worried about losing you as a friend as you are, Yu.”

Yu groaned softly, covering his face with his hand again. After a pause, he let out a huff of air that might have tried to be a laugh. “I can't believe I said all of that.”

“I'm glad you trust me enough to confide in me.” He could hear Naoto's smile. “But, Yu...” A beat. “Have you really accepted all of this yourself?”

He paused, his breath catching in his chest. “What?”

“I humored you for the sake of the conversation, but you haven't actually _said_ anything. You allowed me to draw conclusions and defined nothing yourself. Are you saying all this to convince yourself, or me?”

Yu took a deep breath— _forced_ himself to breathe again—and held it a moment before slowly exhaling. “I don't...there's never...” He grumbled, making his brain pick a sentence and finish it. “There's never been another. Another guy. I... I've just been trying to ignore it, telling myself it'll go away.”

“I can assure you, Yu-kun. That never makes anything easier.” A beat. “Consider it a Shadow.”

“A...what?”

“You do remember what Shadows are, yes?”

“Naoto...”

She laughed. “This is a piece of yourself you are unwilling or uncomfortable with facing. Much like my gender and age, Rise-san's sense of self, Kanji-kun's desire to be accepted outside of societal norms. This is a piece of who you are that frightens you, that you aren't familiar with how to accept or come to terms with. You will become stronger by accepting that this is merely a portion of who you are, and admitting it to be a piece of the greater you.”

“Mmm.” He had to admit, the analogy wasn't far off.

“Out of any of us, you are the strongest. I have always believed that, and this moment does not dissuade me from it. As such, I want you—now, here in the dark of night, alone save for the voice on the other side of the phone—to tell me precisely what you have been hinting at. No work-arounds, no fancy terminology, no dodging the question. What are you feeling, right now?”

Yu's throat closed up, and he swallowed hard. “Naoto...”

“Senpai.” She was serious; she'd reverted to more formal terminology. “This is a part of you. You need to accept it.”

There was a long silence before Yu spoke, and when he managed the words, they were barely audible. “I think I'm in love with my best friend.”

“With who?” the detective's voice gently nudged.

Yu's eyes clenched closed, a single tear tracing down the side of his face to his ear. “I think I'm in love with Yosuke.”

He heard her breath out, and could envision the small smile on her face—the one she always had when some piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. “And you are stronger for saying it. How do you feel now?”

_If it's honesty she wants, it's honesty she's getting._ “Terrified enough to be sick to my stomach.”

“I think that's normal.” A shuffling on her end, and he assumed she'd laid back down. “Now. What do you plan to do about this?”

“I don't know.” That came out significantly weaker than he'd wanted it to. “I don't even know where to start.”

“Are your parents still resisting you coming to visit for Golden Week?”

Yu growled, a sharper reaction than he'd expected. “Yes. Despite Yosuke's best efforts to convince my family that I had a potential job offer at Junes, they were unmoved. I can't say I'm surprised, but I had some hopes.”

“Mm. My offer for a police escort back to the city stands. I could very easily make it look like you were needed in some kind of proceedings for Adachi's case. I also believe I could convince your uncle to help.”

At that, Yu finally managed a smile again. “That I'm sure of. He wasn't impressed when he called the other day and heard that my parents want to keep me in the city for university research over Golden Week.”

“As well he should be. It's absurd. Even I can manage to go a week without working.” When Yu didn't respond, Naoto sighed. “At least most of the week. I _am_ capable of taking a vacation.”

Yu chuckled, sighing as he rolled onto his side. “I miss you, Naoto.” It was barely more than a whisper.

“And I you. And while it may be poor substitute, you know that I—as well as all of your other friends—are merely a phone call away.” A beat, and he could hear her stifle a yawn. “Unfortunately, I believe for the time being, I will have to leave you to your thoughts. We both have school in the morning, and we should both be well-rested.” Another beat. “Think about what I've said, Yu, will you? The sooner you find it in yourself to broach the topic with Yosuke-senpai, the better I believe it will be for you.”

Yu held his breath. He didn't want to think about trying to tell Yosuke. He didn't want to think about how his friend—his best friend—would take a step back, laugh nervously, say something like ' _Hey, I...where did that come from, partner? I mean, I thought you were just kidding before like at the group date cafe, I mean, I'm not really into that...'_ , would find a hasty exit and leave Yu by himself... “I'll think about it.”

“By think, I do mean 'attempt to come up with a viable plan of action,' not 'berate yourself with potential negative outcomes and convince yourself that Naoto was mistaken about this whole idea.'”

That got a full-fledged laugh from Yu. “Am I that easy to read?”

“No, it's merely what I would have been doing in your case.” She chuckled. “Get some rest, Yu. Feel free to text me at any time tomorrow, or in the future.”

“Same to you. Sorry to steal your conversation. We can talk about your love life next time.”

She breathed out her soft laugh. “Such that it is. I'll consider that a plan. Good night, Yu.”

“Night, Naoto.” The line went dead in his hand, and he set the phone to the side, making sure his alarm for school was set.

She was right. This was no different from facing down a Shadow...this just happened outside of the TV World. With consequences that could make or break his closest friendship. But wasn't that true of any Shadow? He took a breath, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

He was going to Inaba for Golden Week, even if Naoto and Dojima had to drag him there.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so provided I can keep myself writing, I'm planning on updating once a week. This one, hopefully on Tuesdays. LET'S SEE IF I CAN DO THIS.

_Wednesday April 18 th – Sunny – After School_

 

Yu had successfully managed to avoid his parents for the entirety of Tuesday. He'd claimed illness at school and had run into little resistance aside from a few additional assignments from teachers. However, he knew all too well that they were going to want to talk to him about the job prospects they'd mentioned earlier, and they weren't going to wait forever.

_I shudder to think of what they've come up with._

Yu wasn't sure when it had happened, but there had been a complete loss of communication and understanding between him and his parents. He didn't think it was new to this year, but it seemed difficult to remember what home life had been like before Inaba. (Hard to imagine any life before Inaba, honestly.) Had he just not cared? Not noticed? Been content to go along with whatever his parents said, never questioning what _he_ actually wanted in life?

_It would make sense. A fear of being alone would lead to being eager to please, to blend in. Was I really that naïve?_ It was starting to seem so.

And his parents wouldn't listen. Yu was certain they believed they had his best interests at heart. They wanted their son to be successful and comfortable. The only trouble was, they believed that he wanted to live like they did. That he wanted a large house and to travel all over the world and border on extravagance.

Honestly, a manager position at Junes wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to him. There was a university not too far from Shichiri Beach that had what seemed like a promising psychological degree. If there was anything Yu felt he specialized in now, it was psychology and helping people to confront and cope with troubles they had in life.

_Is that close enough to a doctor to convince my parents? I doubt it. It's not nearly a prestigious enough university. They'll want me to go to Kyoto or Tokyo._

His mind flickered back to Shu, the young man he'd tutored. The pressure he'd felt from his mother, the constant battle toward Tokyo University... _If only he could see me now._ Something needed to give, and it wasn't going to be him.

“Hey, Narukami!” As he passed by the school gates, a couple of his classmates flagged him down.

He walked over, hoping to hide his confused expression. “Hey, what's up?”

“You like concerts, man?” The tallest of the group, whose family name he was fairly certain was Kato, waved a handful of papers at him.

“I...have been to them, yes. Why?” He shifted his bag on his shoulder.

“You doing anything this Saturday after school? Matsumoto had to bail on us, so we've got a ticket open. Figured we'd ask you.”

_Yes, since no one else has made any move to speak to me, it's entirely logical that you ask the sudden outcast._ “I...I'm not sure, guys. I'm still catching back up to the workload here.”

He made to leave, but Kato called after him. “Your loss, man—they're pretty sweet tickets for that idol's comeback tour.”

Yu froze. _Comeback...?_ He turned around, and Kato had a knowing smile etched on his lips. “Idol?”

“You know, Risette. The one who got sick or whatever and went to live in some middle-of-nowhere town for a while. She's making a stop next city over; it's a pretty short train ride. You're not gonna find these anywhere else, dude.”

Yu's mind was racing. _If those are genuine..._ “You buy them yourself, or pick them up from someone else?”

Kato scoffed. “All me, man. Passing up seeing Risette from this close to the stage? No way. Kanamin's fine and all, but she's no Risette.”

“Mm. Let me check something really quick.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and prayed to the gods she'd answer her phone. _Don't be busy, please..._

_Hey, is it true you're making a stop near me on this tour?_

“Who you texting?” One of the others in the group—Mishima, he was fairly certain—peered toward Yu's screen.

He pulled the edge up. “Just checking about a few details. I have a...mm. Connection.”

Their eyes lit up. “Dude! You got connections to Risette?”

He'd successfully hidden the fact that he'd gone to Inaba specifically from his classmates, so they had no reason to know that he had a rather direct connection to the idol—though how none of them had seen the Junes concert video was beyond him. “You could say that.”

To his relief, his phone buzzed a moment later.

_senpai~! i was wondring if youd come~ <3 u need tickts? i can get bkstge pass 4 u! awwwwww senpaaiiiii miss u so much xxxx_

Rise was the same as ever. He smiled, typing back a response. _A few guys from school are offering me a ticket. I suppose four or five passes would be too many...?_ It was a gamble, but knowing Rise, she'd be willing to bend a few rules to see him. It was mean of him, he thought, to use her this way.

Then again, he didn't think Rise would see it as him using her.

His classmates seemed to be content to watch him wait for texts. _Odd._ His phone buzzed.

_ooooh, senpai got popular @ his new school!!! nething 4 u senpai, u no that <3 i'll have the passes w8ing @ frnt gate 4 u. so excited 2 c u!!!!!! @{-,-'-_

Yu smiled. _I owe you one._ He sent it off, pocketing the phone and looking up to his classmates. “I think I can certainly make the concert, and may have gained access to backstage passes for us. They'll be waiting at the main gate for us when we arrive.”

Kato's eyes shot open wide. “Seriously? Man, how the hell did you manage that?”

Yu just kept the same small smile. “Like you said, I have connections. Where should we all meet up?”

The guys were floored. “Uh...uh, let's just all meet up here at the gate, and we can go to the train station from here. Sound good?”

“Sounds good.” Yu waved, heading off. “I'll see you all later.”

Once about halfway back to his house, he checked his phone again. Of course, Rise had texted him again. _yah u do! don't get 2 c u all alone like I wanted~ but i guess makin ur friends jelous is good 2 ;D_

Then, timestamped a few moments later: _u make good friends there?_

He sighed, responding. _Not exactly. I'm a last minute addition to their concert trip, and most of the student body just ignores me. I'd known I wasn't incredibly popular when I moved, but still._ The class had reacted when his teacher had announced that Yu was transferring. They'd been upset. The class had started to get some cohesiveness, and now that was being shaken. Coming back in a year later...that cohesiveness had formed without him, and they weren't sure about letting him back in.

Rise's answer was typical. _that's so mean!!!! ur the best friend they culd have, senpai. maybe now they'll be soooo impressd w/ u u'll have so many friends._

He didn't know how to respond. _Is that how I want to make friends? By showing off my relationship to Risette?_ Just as he went to type something, a new message came in: _ughhh that's no good either. just b fake. can i call u?_

_Sure._

No sooner had the message sent than his phone rang, an audio grab of “True Story” from the infamous video itself. He smiled as he accepted the call. “Hey there, Miss Idol.”

“Senpai!” She sounded the same as ever. “Awww, it's sooo good to hear from you! I'm sorry I've been so busy.”

“You're starting a career back up; I can't fault you for that. I'm surprised you have free time now.” Yu was smiling again.

“Wellllll, I don't have a lot. But I wanted to talk to you! So you're coming to my show?” He could almost hear her bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“I am. And my classmates were very impressed that with a few text messages I managed to get backstage passes. Apparently even with a video of our performance online, I'm still under the radar enough to be a mystery.”

“You're always a mystery, Senpai.” He could hear Rise smiling. “I'm glad I could do it for you, though.”

“And I'm grateful you did. I'm...” He sighed. “Honestly, I'm not sure why I agreed to go with them in the first place, other than I'd like to see you perform. I think today was the longest conversation I've ever had with any of them.”

Rise's voice turned serious. “I'm sorry, Senpai. It must be hard, feeling like a stranger all over again.”

“It's harder being away from all my real friends.” He watched his feet as he walked, letting auto-pilot guide him back home. “I suppose you could probably sympathize with that.”

“Yeah, it's kinda weird being back.” Yu could hear someone in the background say something to Rise, which she muffled the phone to respond to, coming back a moment later. “I mean, don't get me wrong. I love being back, being Risette again and knowing what that means and what it reflects in me. Everyone's been telling me my performances feel so much more 'real' now. I guess that means I'm doing it right and showing who I really am, right?” She laughed, but Yu didn't hear much humor in it. “But I miss being back at the tofu shop. I miss all our friends. I miss you.”

“Miss you too, Rise. And I bet your performance is perfect.” This time, her giggle sounded genuine. “I heard someone come talk to you. Back to work?”

“Yeah, soon.” She sighed. “No rest for the weary. But before I go, Senpai. Have you...” She paused, and Yu's feet hit the front step of his house. “How have you been, like honestly? Are you okay?”

“I'm adjusting.” It wasn't a lie, but they'd both know it was a sidestep of the truth. “I'm looking forward to the show on Saturday.”

“Me too. Stay well, okay? I'll talk to you again soon.”

“Thanks, Rise. You too.” He flipped the phone shut and opened the door—

\--only to find both of his parents already home. _Well this is unexpected._ “Yu-kun, there you are! Come in, we were just talking about you,” his mother said with a smile.

_Excellent._ “Oh? Should I be concerned?” He slipped off his shoes and joined them in the living area, taking a seat on a _zabuton_ in front of the table.

“No, of course not,” his father replied, in what Yu was sure he thought was a comforting tone. “Your mother and I were just discussing the best plan for us to proceed with your plan for the future.”

_Best plan for us. Yes. Us meaning you, right?_ “I see. I do remember you mentioning a few job opportunities while Yosuke was visiting?”

“Yes.” His father leaned forward. “I've had quite a few of my contacts reach out to me. Many of them are willing to allow you to work with them part-time through university, so that once you graduate you could step right in at an intermediate level. You'd never have to wait down at some entry-level job; you'd be fast-tracked from the get go.”

“Mm. In what fields?” Yu stared at the table.

“Sato-san, for one, and Kakihara-san are the two I'd be most interested in hearing you talk to. You've met both of them, I believe.”

Yu tried to remember. _Sato... Sato is a lawyer. Kakihara I...can't..._ “If I have, it's been some time. Remind me, please?”

“Sato-san is one of my closest connections at the law firm we often work in tandem with when your mother and I travel. Kakihara-san is an extremely talented pediatric surgeon and a highly respected professor at Tokyo University as part of their pre-med program. She in particular has expressed an interest in talking to you.”

Yu felt his chest turn to ice. _The last thing I want is to be a doctor._ “I...I'm really not sure about med school. Being a part-time janitor at Inaba Municipal was bad enough.”

His mother waved a hand. “Don't be so dramatic, Yu. You don't need to be a surgeon like Kakihara-san. There are many different opportunities in a medical program.”

“And I'm not comfortable with most of them,” Yu insisted.

His father leaned back, crossing his arms. “Well, I still think you should at least speak to her. I've told her she could call Friday evening, once you're back from school for the day.”

Yu's eyes widened. “What if I'd been out?”

“Then I expect your plans would have changed.” His father didn't even blink. “As for Sato-san, he's going to be in the area on business after Golden Week, so we can arrange for you to speak with him then. The timing should be good; you'll have plenty of time to work through practice placement exams before then.”

“So I should be able to visit my friends for Golden Week?” Yu responded, glancing over at his father.

The man was scowling. “Honestly, Yu. I thought you would have given up on that by now. You have more important things to be doing with your time than wasting it in some backwater town with aimless ruffians.”

“They're not aimless, or ruffians!” Yu fought to keep his volume under control, his fists clenched on top of the table. “They're friends of mine, they're hard-working, and I'd like to see them.”

“And if you have time, maybe a weekend over summer break you can go back,” his mother said. “Honestly though, Yu, I don't understand what you see—” The telephone cut her off, ringing in the background. “Oh, who could possibly be calling at this hour.” She stood and went to the phone.

“I don't understand where this standoffish, insolent behavior has come from,” his father muttered. “I thought being somewhere away from everything would help you mature, but it seems it's had the opposite effect.”

“How would you know how Inaba affected me? You've never asked once what I did while I was there!” Yu was losing grip of his cool.

“And what could you possibly have gone through in that miniscule blip on the map that would have warranted bringing up? It was a quiet, safe, out of the way place for you to stay while we were gone, and a chance to connect with family you otherwise don't see all that often.”

“Safe?” Yu laughed. “You must have been overseas. Or did you think that a serial murder-and-kidnapping spree were normal and safe? That watching my cousin die and through some miracle come back to life was normal? See my uncle nearly kill himself in a car accident? Watch a detective I could have trusted with my life be arrested for murder?” Yu could see his father's face going pale, but now he couldn't stop the words. “I saw things I can never erase from my memory in that town, things that got into my brain and stole my sleep for weeks at a time. Some of them still plague my nightmares. But through all of that, in _spite_ of all of that, I made some of the closest and most dedicated friends I will ever have. I learned more about myself than I ever could have here in the city. And I sure as _hell_ learned what family was like there, more than I've ever had here.”

His father opened his mouth to respond, but his mother's raised voice cut them both off. “Don't you dare tell me how to raise my son, Ryotaro! You think you know him so well after a year...” She got cut off, and even from this far away, Yu thought he could barely hear his uncle's voice on the other end of the phone.

His father, however, just leveled an icy glare at his son. “We will deal with your inexcusable behavior later, when your mother is here as well. I recommend you get to your side of the house.” His voice was low, just short of a snarl.

“Yes, _sir_.” Yu stood and walked off, grabbing his shoes from the doorway as he went, shutting the door separating the two houses a little more forcefully than it probably needed. Standing there to catch his breath, he found he could still hear his mother's side of the conversation—and he got an idea. Darting into his own living space, he crossed to the phone and turned on his receiver, muting the microphone.

“--a little reason, Kyoko!” he could hear his uncle saying.

“You're certainly one to tell me about reason, Ryotaro,” his mother snapped back. “I am the one attempting to secure a future for my son, in a—”

Dojima started talking over her. “By hijacking every choice he has? It's Golden Week, dammit! Is he asking you for money?”

“That's not the-”

“Is he truant from school?”

“Ryotaro-”

“What the hell is your problem then, Kyoko!?” Yu had scarcely heard his uncle this angry.

“He doesn't need to be trapped in that...that...” His mother was sputtering.

“Oh, I see. It's good enough for me to waste my days here, serving my community and raising a child, but not nearly impressive enough for your golden boy of a son, is that right? Inaba's too small for a Narukami child? We're not _good enough_ for him?”

“No! You're not!” Yu's eyes widened, and Dojima had no immediate response. “What you chose to do with your life is your fault, Ryotaro. But you followed your poor lovely wife-”

“Don't you _dare_ bring Chisato into this.”

“-into smaller and smaller opportunities until you were obsolete. Inaba's nothing to be proud of, Ryotaro, and I'm sorry that you think that it is. But Yu can be so much more, and I'm not letting him make your mistakes.”

“It's not your _damn_ choice what decisions he makes!” Yu could hear Dojima's fist smack down on something. Likely the table. He wondered what Nanako was doing. “He's a smart young man; let him make his own mistakes.”

“And risk him tumbling into nothingness as well? I won't stand for it. He's staying here for the holiday, and that's final, brother. If you're lucky, we may allow him a weekend this summer. But don't get your hopes up.” He heard his mother's line click off, then his uncle hiss a “Dammit!” before hanging up his own line.

It was a moment before Yu thought to turn off his own line, and another before he realized his face was wet. One more and he knew why his eyes were burning.

Numb, he returned the phone to its base, walked into his room, and stared at his futon. _I have to set that up._ A moment passed.

He walked back out of the room and lay down on the couch, eyes staring blankly toward his darkened TV screen. _How am I going to convince them to let me go to the concert? ...I just won't tell them. We're leaving right after school. They're never home that early. ...Except for today._

_I don't care. I won't tell them and I'll just go. I'm not interested in what they think anymore._ If nothing else, today had solidified that his parents didn't know him anymore, and weren't interested in changing that. They were ready to morph him into whoever they wanted him to be, and to hell with anyone who thought differently.

Including him.

_Naoto... I may need that police escort after all._ He curled up and closed his eyes, feeling too broken to move to his futon. He could just sleep here.

 


	7. Chapter 7

_Friday April 20 th – Sunny – After School_

 

Yu's feet dragged. He knew what was waiting for him at home, and he didn't want to deal with it. He barely knew Kakihara-san. If they'd met, it had been years ago; he didn't even have an image in his head for her. Every time he tried, he just saw Sayoko—and her last name hadn't been Kakihara, so he knew it couldn't (though some wonderful stroke of fate) be her.

He pulled out his phone, staring at the screen before bringing up his messages. He hadn't gotten many messages from anyone back in Inaba save for a few from Yosuke on Tuesday complaining about school, but he wasn't willing to wait for this one.

          To: Yosuke _So guess what my parents have in store for me today?_

Maybe Yosuke wouldn't be working. He'd mentioned that he'd picked up more hours at Junes, which made sense really, but it did mean that he was less likely to respond to texts in any kind of quick fashion.

His conversation with Naoto still bounced around in the back of his head. _Think about what I've said, Yu, will you? The sooner you find it in yourself to broach the topic with Yosuke-senpai, the better I believe it will be for you. By think, I do mean 'attempt to come up with a viable plan of action,' not 'berate yourself with potential negative outcomes and convince yourself that Naoto was mistaken about this whole idea.'_ But how was he supposed to say something like that—and to Yosuke, of all people? Yosuke, who'd wanted to run in terror from the moment he saw the bath house. Who'd done nothing but mercilessly pick at Kanji for his Shadow's actions and behaviors, who'd made such a fuss at the camping trip... Sure, Yu had been hesitant about the bath house himself, and he'd asked questions along with Yosuke on the camping trip, but... He hadn't really _known_ Kanji yet at that point. Yu had done more than his fair share of apologizing to the blond about that, though Kanji had always taken it in stride. _I know, don' worry, Senpai. I treated people like shit too, 'cause I didn't really know 'em. Easy t'make assumptions when all ya seen is that Shadow jackass. Sides, damn near questioned myself a few times. An' you haven't been a complete ass about it, either. Seriously, don' worry._

Part of Yu wished that he could talk to Kanji about this. Naoto may have turned out to be a girl, but he at least had the experience. But _that_ was not a conversation he was sure would be comfortable for either of them.

A buzz in his hand brought him back to the present, and he looked down at his phone, a smile coming easily to his lips. Looks like Yosuke wasn't working.

_o dam UHHH iunno, u gonna B a soldier? NO an accountent. ant? f it I cant spell. astronot?_

Yu laughed, pausing to lean against a nearby fence. Home wasn't going anywhere.

_Not quite. I'm meeting with a surgeon from Tokyo. She teaches at the university. Apparently it is the best option I could possibly ever hope for._

Yu shut his eyes tight, trying to push back the exhaustion from his brain. There wasn't really any reason for him to be tired; he wasn't doing much. He went to school, did his homework in the library, came home, made dinner, stared blankly at the walls and then went to sleep. Even when he was working between three and six part-time jobs at a time back in Inaba, on top of schoolwork and hanging out with his friends and oh right _saving the world_ , he didn't feel this weary.

A moment later, a new message buzzed in.

_o gud, u can B a dr. hang out w/ all the hot nurses 4 me lol_

Yu shook his head, still smiling. Yosuke had seen the uniform he had for working at the hospital, and had made some comment about being jealous that Yu got to work with all the nurses in their sexy uniforms. He'd made a point to _not_ introduce Sayoko to Yosuke, even after she mellowed out.

_Wonder how she's doing. Hm._

Yu stared at the screen, trying to decide how to answer. Did he brush off the 'hot nurses' reference? Make light of it? Something else? _Ugh. This must be how Naoto feels when she starts trying to really parse emotions._

And an idea came to him.

_Psh. I will be the sexiest nurse. All others pale in comparison._

He flipped the phone shut and shoved it in his pocket immediately after sending the message, pretending he hadn't just said that. It was true, most of his friends had gotten used to him saying...bizarre and occasionally unrelated statements, but... well, this was a reach. _It'll be fine. He'll laugh at it and call you weird, and life will move on. Just go home and face your parents and Kakihara-san._

No sooner had he started walking than his phone buzzed—but this time it chimed out his ringtone, rather than a notification sound. Taking out his phone, he frowned; it wasn't a number he knew. _Not like that narrows it down._ He opened the phone and set it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hi—I'm sorry to call out of the blue like this. Is this Yu Narukami?”

Yu blinked. _They're calling me...and asking...um._ “Yes, speaking. Who is this?”

“Hi Narukami-kun, I'm a friend of your mother and father. My name is Megumi Kakihara, I'm a professor at Tokyo University. They told me they might mention me to you?”

_Oh good, she's coming to me. Even better._ “Ah, yes of course Kakihara-san. I didn't realize they'd given you a way to get in touch with me directly.”

“I'm sorry, I know it's rude of me, but I ended up getting caught doing something and I asked them for your number so I could get in touch with you directly. If you're willing, I'd love to talk with you today.”

“Of course.” The words came mechanically. If he said no, his parents would know and that wasn't a fight he was having before Golden Week.

“I'd like it to be somewhere you're comfortable; any ideas?”

Yu blinked. That wasn't expected. _Places I'm comfortable here in the city...?_ “The park by the overlook?”

“Perfect! I'm still en route to the city, but I should be there in...oh, ten, fifteen minutes?”

“Sure. I'll meet you there.” It wasn't much longer of a walk. “I'll talk to you then.”

“Sure thing, Narukami-kun.” The line went silent, and he pulled it back to stare at it for a moment before closing it and returning it to his pocket. _That was...strange._ Her voice was more animated, more...friendly than any of the other 'friends' his parents had. And he was certain the others were going to want to meet on their terms, not a casual talk at the park.

But he could figure that all out later. For now, he needed to get walking.

* * *

Arriving at the park, there was a tall, slender woman sitting on a bench near the overlook, clearly watching the people coming and going. No one else looked like they could be a surgeon and professor at a university, so he made his way to her.

She smiled and stood as he got closer. “Narukami-kun?”

“Kakihara-san.” He gave her a bow and her smile grew as she bowed in return. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh, the pleasure's mine, Narukami-kun. Would you mind if we kept things casual? Hearing all the honorifics just makes me feel old.”

_You're friends with my parents!?_ It didn't seem possible. “O-of course. Just Yu is fine.”

“Feel free to call me Meg.” His face must have shown more shock than he'd intended, because she laughed. “I completed all of my higher education in America, and I guess I got more used to how they refer to each other than I thought. Coming back to Japan for the job at the university was quite a shock.”

“I can imagine.” His eyes were still wide, but now her informality made perfect sense. “I...I'm sorry, I just... My parents speak very highly of you, and you don't...seem...” There was no way he could make that sentence not offensive.

Meg just smiled wider. “I don't seem like their type of people?” When Yu didn't respond, she laughed. “I can understand how you would think that. Your parents like things just so, don't they?”

Yu tried not to scowl. “That is certainly one way of putting it.”

“That's part of the reason I wanted to meet you like this, if I'm being honest.” Meg gestured, and they both sat down. “I'll admit, I was a little surprised when your father approached me about you working with me directly. It's not uncommon, but I'd never heard anything about you considering Tokyo University before that. Really, I hadn't heard much about you at all. I met them back when I returned to Japan about 5 years ago now, when I was just working at the hospital. I was part of a team that worked with them on a project, and your father was impressed by my work. We've been contacts ever since, so I certainly knew he had a son, but I hadn't heard anything about you lately. I hear you spent a year away while they were traveling last year?”

For whatever reason, just being asked about last year made Yu feel like a weight had lifted off of his chest. “Yes, I stayed with my uncle in Inaba.”

Meg's eyes narrowed in thought. “Inaba...I've heard that name. Oh, of course!” She snapped her fingers. “That's where that terrible kidnapping and murder case was happening, wasn't it? Did you get caught up in that at all?”

_Oh, if only I could tell you._ “A little. Several of my friends were thought to be targets, and two of the victims were a part of my school. Mr. Morooka was my homeroom teacher, and Saki Konishi an upperclassman. Other than that, I just heard pieces from my uncle. He's a detective with the Inaba Police Department, and had been Tohru Adachi's partner.” Just saying Adachi's name brought back too many bad memories, and left a sour taste in his mouth.

“Oh wow.” She covered her mouth with a hand. “You were right in the eye of the storm then. That must have been terrifying.”

“It...was, at times.” Yu rolled his shoulders. “But it certainly made my visit interesting. I made some excellent friends during my year there.”

She smiled. “You must miss them. Have you had any thoughts of going back? Or are you fairly well set on staying in and around Tokyo now?”

Yu paused, weighing his options. “Can I be honest with you? ...And not have it get back to my parents?”

Meg swiped an 'x' over her chest. “Cross my heart. What you say stays with me.”

“I hate the city.” The words came out on their own. “It's my parents who want me to stay here and grow into some businessman or doctor or I don't know what. They don't ask me what I want, they don't consider my opinions, and they certainly don't want me to go back to Inaba. They think it's too small to be of any significance and there's no reason for me to go back, not even to visit. They want me to meet with people, study for tests, I don't know what else over Golden Week.” His hands were clenched tight. “They never asked about my year there. I don't think they knew about the murders. None of it matters to them because it's not the dream they have for me.”

“What's the dream _you_ have for you?” Meg asked, her voice soft.

“I want to go back. I want to study near my friends, I want to help people. Kumano University isn't too far from Inaba, and they have an excellent psychology and counseling program. I think I'd be good at it. People...” He sighed, not sure of how to phrase it. “They...trust me, it seems like. My classmates, other students at Yasogami, they all came to me with their troubles and I could help them work through them. I loved doing that. I...I was good at it. ...I think.” Yu stared at his hands, still clenched tight. They were starting to ache, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It was feeling something, and it seemed like he'd been lacking in that department lately.

“I can absolutely see you in the psychological or psychiatric field somewhere. You have that kind of personality, that kind of empathy. I don't need to know you well to see it in how you talk about your friends back in Inaba, the fire in your voice when you talk about helping people.” Meg set a hand over one of his fists, getting him to look up at her. “And while I think that would also make you an excellent doctor, that's clearly not where your heart lies.”

Yu shook his head. “I worked as a part-time janitor at Inaba Municipal. I got to know some of the nurses. I could never do their job.”

Meg smiled. “It can be a very difficult job. Not that being a counselor or something in that field wouldn't be, but it might be a different kind of hard. A more familiar kind.”

He nodded. “And one I have experience with, and would be more comfortable dealing with. But...my parents won't hear any of it, so I'm stuck. Away from my friends, my family...”

“Your home.” The shock must have been written all over Yu's face, because Meg laughed. “That's no surprise, Yu. You changed into a whole different person as soon as you started talking about Inaba. You found yourself out there, didn't you? And now you've been dragged back into a place that doesn't know that—doesn't know you.”

It felt like he'd learned to breathe all over again. “Yes. Exactly.” His eyes were fixed on this brilliant yet utterly impossible woman sitting next to him. “I... How in the world do my parents talk to you?”

“I know what part to play around people like that,” Meg replied with a wink. “And when your father started talking about bringing you to Tokyo U and working with me in the hospital for an internship or residency... I knew I had to talk to you, get to know who you actually were, just in case.”

Yu was speechless. It took him what felt like ages to find words again. “I...I don't know what...” Then the shadow started seeping back into his brain. “But how... I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but how can you help me? I don't think just you telling them I don't want to do it will help. They'll just find someone else. They've got someone else lined up.”

“Oh, I can work something out.” Meg's response was completely confident. “At least in the short term. But Yu, I want you to promise me something.” Her eyes caught his, and she didn't continue until he'd nodded an affirmation. “I want you to stop with the whole 'I'm stuck' mentality. Just because your parents want you to do something different, just because they're making things complicated for you, doesn't mean that you can't do them. Your future is up to you, and no one else. So I'm going to try and make the first step a little easier for you, and I'll stick around to see you through the rest, but I'm not going to hold your hand. This is something you need to do on your own.”

_Something I need to do on my own... Maybe this isn't so different from the TV world after all._ Except this time instead of a psychotic goddess of creation complicating his life, it was his parents. Meg was a new bond, a new arcana for his Personas in a way. But now he had to take what each of those arcana had taught him and make them a part of him, rather than a new fractal vision of himself for fighting.

He was only ever hopeless when he thought the fight was lost. When he'd been isolated in the fight against Mitsuo, and believed he'd lost all of his arcana. When he'd wanted to succumb to the fog against Izanami and stay with his friends because it was easier and he was afraid of going on without them. For an instant, when he'd realized who was the main human perpetrator of all these crimes...and wondering if it was truly right to turn him in.

But then he could remember the feel of Yosuke pulling him out of that hellish dream in the game world. Remembered the horror that had set in when he'd faced down Adachi in the twisted version of Inaba, and the conviction he'd gained in knowing he'd made the right call.

Remembered seeing all of his friends grow and change, their Personas reflecting each piece of that, becoming more—becoming stronger—becoming more complete. How proud he'd been, watching them finally accept who he saw them as, no matter how often they still struggled with it.

Remembered the first time he'd called upon Izanagi-no-Okami, and watching his first Persona reflect how he felt at last.

_Time for a new fusion._

He nodded, the gesture confident for the first time since he'd come back to the city. “Yes. Thank you, Meg.” He gave her a small smile. “It seems like every time I dig myself deep into a hole, someone comes along to pick me back up again and remind me of how stupid I'm being.”

“That's what friends are for. And sometimes, almost strangers.” She grinned back. “You shouldn't need to do anything for my plan to work, but if you haven't heard anything from your parents about Golden Week in the next few days, give me a call. You can just use the number I called you from.”

Yu nodded again, then frowned, brain finally processing the situation. “You're... You're not someone my parents sent to try and fool me into doing what they want...right? It's just...I don't know, maybe I just don't believe in coincidence. Your timing's too good.”

Meg laughed—which was good, because Yu wasn't sure if that would offend her or not. “I can understand that. I promise, I'm not a secret spy from your parents. Just someone who's a little more observant than them, but from what you're saying...that's not hard to do.” She turned to face him directly, and he shifted to match. “I'm not working any magic here, Yu. Like I said, I'm going to give you the chance to make the first move, and from there you're going to have to fight this on your own. Just know that you have people who will back you up, even here in the city.”

He swallowed. “Why are you doing this? For a kid you barely know?”

“Because I remember being your age, trying to figure out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.” She leaned against the back of the bench. “My parents didn't want me to go to America. They wanted me safe and sound, where they could keep one eye on me the whole time. I knew that wasn't where I needed to be, so I made it happen. I didn't meet with quite the...insistent pushback that you seem to be dealing with, but there were definitely fights. And if a few white lies can help you make the choices I got to make...well, then I think it's worth making your father mad at me.” She winked.

Yu couldn't help but smile. “Thank you. For everything. For listening, for doing this for me...for risking going against my parents.”

“Don't worry about it, Yu. I'm glad to help. And...” Now her grin turned mischievous. “If the psych field doesn't work out for you, I'll still have a place for you in Tokyo.”

Yu finally laughed. “And I might take you up on it at that point.”

Her smile didn't dim, and he could finally see a glimmer of hope. “So, Yu Narukami. Tell me about this home of yours, this town that rocked the world on its heel last year. What makes it so special to you?”

She made it far too easy to stay out too late and come home past dinner time.

But he didn't care.

He finally had a plan.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the absence last week! I've been hectic and not at home in my apartment lately, and when I went to upload last week, I realized I had every chapter of the story...up until this one. *siiiiiigh* I'm still not home this week, but this time before I left, I remembered to put the right chapter on my flash drive! :D

_Saturday April 21th – Cloudy – After School_

 

By the time school ended for the week, Yu wasn't sure he wanted to go to this concert anymore. Sure, he was looking forward to seeing Rise, but he didn't care about the people he was going with. And if Rise was predictable—and she usually was—then she was going to make a huge fuss about seeing him, and then the guys would never leave him alone.

Funny, he'd been complaining that he was being ignored, and now he didn't want the attention. In all honesty, it was just the attention that being around Rise garnered that he didn't want. Flashbacks from Marukyu haunted him. No one needed or wanted that kind of attention, least of all him. But...he didn't want to bail on his classmates, and he really didn't want to bail on Rise.

So at the end of the day, he walked down to the gates and joined his classmates, forcing a smile when they greeted him and followed them to the bus.

* * *

Luckily, no one tried to make conversation with him on the way there. They were all content to talk amongst themselves, and Yu watched the world go by his window. Suddenly his phone buzzed and he jumped, feeling his heart leap into his throat. _Please don't be my parents. Don't let them have picked today to be the one day they care where I am._ He tapped the screen, looking for a sender name.

_Yosuke. Oh thank God._

_HEY! sry I didnt reply yesterday, phone died. BUT w/e u say, dude. u do u_

It took a moment for Yu to remember what Yosuke was responding to—and as soon as he made the connection, he felt his face burning. _Oh. Right. Sexiest doctor._ Luckily (he supposed) Yosuke had let it roll off his back and hadn't made a big deal out of it.

Maybe Naoto was right. Maybe Yosuke wouldn't freak out.

Maybe this bus would start flying too. That was just as possible.

          To: Yosuke _It's okay. I was talking to the doctor most of the evening anyway. Might be good news._

He'd let Yosuke stew on that for a while, he thought with a smile. How a meeting with a doctor would be good news would confound him to no end.

Just as he was about to slip his phone back into his pocket, one of his classmates turned to look at him. “Almost there, dude. Ready?”

“Yeah, sure.” He tapped a quick _will be away from my phone for a bit, catching Rise's concert_ to Yosuke and then switched the phone to silent, tucking it into his pocket. The bus cruised to a stop a few moments later and the group shuffled off.

“So, Narukami.” Kato looked over at him. “You sure you wrangled those backstage passes?”

“Yeah, I can go get them. They should be at will call.” The group walked over and Yu waited in the line until finally the man working at the counter stared up at him.

“What's the name?”

Yu blinked. He had no idea whose name Rise would have put them under. _I guess it wouldn't make much sense if she put them under hers...?_ “Ah, probably under Narukami, Yu?”

The man flipped through a series of envelopes, eyebrows furrowing. “Don't see that name.”

Yu could feel his stomach sinking. _Oh no, come on, Rise..._ “They...well, they aren't concert tickets, I guess. They'd be passes? Rise—I mean, Risette said she'd put some aside for me.”

The man's eyebrows rose in disbelief, but he turned in his chair, rising to look at a different table in the back. There were larger packages back there, but a smaller number. A moment passed before he lifted the edge of an envelope and turned his head back to the window. “You said Narukami?”

“Yes, sir.” Yu let out a sigh as the man picked up the envelope and headed back.

“Looks like five all access passes?” he asked, and Yu nodded. “Here ya go. Pre-show meet and greet is almost over, but once the concert ends you can head to the door on house right on the edge of the stage and show your passes to the guards. They'll take you back to the meeting area.”

“All right, thank you so much.” Yu picked up the envelope and headed back to his friends, holding it up with a smile. “No problems.”

“You are seriously awesome, Narukami.” Yu handed out the passes and Kato clapped him on the back. “We owe you one, man.”

“Don't worry about it.” Yu shrugged it off. “We'll all get a chance to meet Risette after the show, and you guys don't have to worry about anything. I'm just glad to help.” They walked in and found places to stand with a good view of the stage, and waited. _It'll be interesting to see Rise live after everything in Inaba. I haven't seen much of her tour on TV._

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Rise's show was flawless. It was clear she was more comfortable in her skin than she had been before, and her smile looked so much more natural. Yu still didn't know most of the words to her songs, but she played “True Story,” so he hummed along under his breath. He couldn't tell if she could see him from the stage, but it did look like she'd grinned at him a few times. It was hard to tell.

When the concert ended, he and his classmates dutifully tromped over to the house right stage door and showed the security working there their passes. He let them through, indicating a room at the end of the hallway on the left. The other guys insisted that Yu walk in first, so he tapped on the door, hearing a very familiar soprano voice respond, “Come on in!”

He stepped in, letting the others file in behind him. Rise was seated at a lighted dressing table, peering at something on the shelf in front of her, but as the door opened she looked at the mirror, seeing Yu reflected back at her. A wide smile spread across her face as she turned to the group—but Yu could tell that it wasn't her standard smile. She had something up her sleeve. “Hi hi! You must be Narukami-kun and his friends!”

_Ah. She's pretending not to know me. Thanks, Rise..._ “Ah, yeah.” Yu turned and introduced his classmates, who all gave short stunned bows.

“It's so good to see all of you! Inoue-san told me all about your visit. I'm glad you could all come! Sit down, guys. Do you want anything to drink? I'm dying of thirst after that set. How'd you like it?” And with that, Rise was off and running. Yu was content to sit quietly, listening to Rise natter with the other guys, occasionally pointing a question at him, but mainly just keeping conversation going herself.

Yu had no idea how long they were sitting there, but it seemed like both ages and mere moments when Inoue-san, once again Rise's manager again, poked his head in. “Risette? I hate to break this up, but we really need to get you ready to move.”

“Awww, okay.” She turned a pouting face to the guys. “Sorry the party's over, everyone. I had a really fun time talking to all of you!”

“Thank _you_ , Risette,” they all stammered back, standing to leave.

Yu had managed to get to his feet when Inoue pointed at him. “Narukami, if I can have a word with you before you go? Just some paperwork for the passes.”

To his credit, none of his shock made it to his face. “Um...sure.” He turned to his classmates. “I'll see you guys later, okay? Don't wait up. I don't want you to miss the bus because of me.”

“You sure, Narukami?” Kato asked.

“Yeah, I'm sure. Go ahead. I'll see you in school on Monday.” Yu waved to them, and they all nodded, waved back, and vanished. Once they had all left, Inoue just smiled at Yu and shut the door.

It didn't take Rise an instant to fling herself into Yu, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. “Senpai, ugh that was the worst acting I've ever had to do I hope you appreciate all of that because it was awful and I hated it.”

Yu chuckled, returning the hug. “I'm very grateful, Rise, thank you. I wasn't looking forward to going from a nobody to the biggest somebody in school overnight.”

“Ugh, okay.” She held on a moment longer and then let him go. “It's so good to see you, though! Did you like the show?”

“It was wonderful, of course.” Rise's smile widened at the compliment. “I wouldn't have expected anything different.”

Now the two could chat in a more relaxed fashion, catching up on what had been happening on tour, and what they'd heard from their friends back in Inaba. It was nice, Yu decided, to have someone else to talk to who understood the pain of leaving their friends behind after that year. Rise was missing Inaba almost as much as Yu was, and was incredibly jealous that Yosuke had come to visit.

“Man, I wish I could just bring all of you out here on tour with me. I guess that'd be pretty obvious though, right? And you've all got school.”

“Unfortunately.” Yu gave a sad half-smile. “It's too bad you're touring over Golden Week.”

“I know, right? It's a huge draw, though, since everyone's schedule is free so it's always a great time for shows. I wish I could come visit. Are you going back to Inaba?”

“Well...actually, I'm not sure.” He explained the situation with his parents, and then the conversation he'd had with Meg the day before. “I'm not sure what her plan is, but if she even has a small idea, I'm willing to go along with it.”

“You totally should! Your parents are being awful. I'm surprised they even let you out to come here.” While he'd managed to hide the shock earlier, apparently the sheepish guilt wasn't being hidden as nicely, because Rise clapped her hands over her mouth. “Senpai, do they know where you are?”

“Not...exactly.” Yu scratched his head. “I didn't exactly come home from school. We caught the bus straight after school.”

“Senpai!” Rise smacked his arm. “You're gonna get in so much trouble!”

Yu shrugged. “All the doors on my side of the house are locked, and the only spare key is locked inside. For all they know, I'm asleep.”

“What if they got home beforehand and know you didn't come home?”

He shook his head. “I'll worry about that then. Maybe I can just say I was meeting with Meg again. I bet she'd go for that.”

“Man, Senpai. I never knew you were such a rebel.” She winked, then leaned in to give him a hug again. “It's so good to see you. I miss you so much.”

“It's good to see you too, and I miss you too.” He set his chin on Rise's shoulder.

“How's Chie?” he heard her murmur, and in spite of himself, he tensed at the question. Rise leaned back, brows furrowed. “Oh no, what happened?”

Yu cleared his throat. “We broke up a while ago, back when I moved. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it before you left.”

“I was so distracted at the end of the year, I think I missed a lot. I'm sorry, Yu. I know you two really liked each other.” Yu shrugged, and Rise just set her head on his shoulder. “Are you dating anyone new yet?”

He shook his head, despite the fact that she couldn't see it from her vantage point. “No, not yet. I...” He didn't want to say too much to Rise, because he knew how badly she kept secrets, but... “I've got an idea. Someone I'm interested in.”

“Oooh!” She perked up automatically, lifting her head and beaming at him. “Who is it? Is it someone I know? C'mon, tell me!”

Yu bit back the smile. “I'd rather not say anything until something gets a little firmer.”

“Oh come _on_ , Senpai, you can tell me! I won't say anything.” Yu raised his eyebrows and Rise sighed. “Okay, I know I talk a lot but I _can_ keep a secret! Come ooooon.”

Yu shifted in his seat. “I'd really rather not, Rise. It's...complicated.”

“Is it a guy?” The sentence dropped on Yu like a bag of bricks, and it must have shown on Yu's face, because Rise cracked up. “Oh come on, Yu, it's not _that_ big of a deal. Seems like everyone's a little bit bi out here. I don't care who you want to date. I'll just always be jealous it's not me.”

Yu was glad not only for the words, but for the genuine smile that meant she was mostly kidding about that final sentence. “Y-yeah, okay. Thanks.” He coughed. “And besides, I don't think I'd do well as your boyfriend, Rise. Too much of the spotlight is bad for me.”

“Sure sure.” She just heaved a long-suffering sigh and set her head back on his shoulder. “Well, whenever you're ready, you can tell me who the lucky person is, okay? I promise I can keep it quiet.”

“Thanks, Rise. I will.” _And now I have even less reason to hide talking to Yosuke. Not with both Rise and Naoto being in on some element of this...when did I get such a blabbermouth?_ He didn't think he was one to talk nervously, but maybe something in him needed the outlet. He hadn't really talked to anyone since he'd gotten here; he could be in some kind of withdrawal.

They talked a while longer before Rise arranged for someone to drive Yu home. Rise cried, Yu felt like he wanted to, but they exchanged promises to talk more often and hugged again. The car ride home seemed like it took forever, and when he got home, all he could be thankful for was that the house was dark, and his parents' car wasn't in the driveway.

He climbed the stairs, unrolled his futon, and flopped onto it. One more week. One more week, and then whatever Meg's plan was could start. One more week and he could be back in Inaba, and for just a moment, he could forget that he'd ever left. One more week.

As an afterthought, he grabbed his phone, checking the messages and turning the ringer back on. He had three messages from Yosuke.

_gud news?! awsome! wut she got planed?_

_o OK hav fun @ th concert. tell rise I sed HI._

_dont kno wen u ll be home BUT slp well. miss u, partner._

Yu felt the tears that wouldn't fall earlier pricking at his eyes, and he swallowed hard.

          To: Yosuke _Good night, partner. I'll fill you in tomorrow. I miss you too._

More than he could possibly put into a text message. He plugged his phone in and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the wrenching in his heart.

He had to say something, or he'd drive himself mad. Now that he knew...he had to say something.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a day late! I got distracted yesterday and forgot it was Tuesday. XD siiiigh.

_Wednesday April 25 th – Rain – After School_

 

No matter how long it had been since the last time he'd seen the Midnight Channel, the rain always made Yu uneasy. _Hard to believe it's been a year since all of that started._ While he could remember it like it happened yesterday, it felt like it had been a lifetime since those first days in Inaba. Walking with Chie and Yukiko, taking Chie's light-hearted jabs at matchmaking for the more serious raven-haired girl... Pulling Yosuke out of the trashcan and helping him get his bike up and running, watching Chie take Yosuke down in one kick over a DVD.

How was all of that only a year ago? How had all of that...happened in only a year?

Yu unlocked his door and slipped in, closing the umbrella as he went. _Not much homework, but enough to keep me busy for the evening. That'll be nice._ Since he ate alone and worked in the library after school, he'd rarely come home with school work. It made for a lot of reading while he was in his side of the house.

“Yu-kun? Is that you?” That wasn't a good sign. His mother's voice drifted over to him from the other side of the house, and from the sheer fact that neither of his parents had spoken to him since the fight, the utter calm in her voice meant nothing good was going to happen.

He took off his shoes. “Yes, I'm home.” _As if it could be someone else._

“Can you come over here please?” Now it was certain. Something bad was happening, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. _Is it the meeting with Meg? Is it the concert? Did Uncle call? What's the fight going to be_ _about_ _this time?_

Yu bit back the question, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. “Coming.” He shrugged his school bag to the floor next to the couch, took a breath, and walked over into his parents' side of the house. As he'd expected—and possibly feared—both parents were sitting at the low table in their living space, across from one another so that when Yu sat down, he would have no choice but to sit between them.

Excellent.

His mother gestured for him to take a seat, and since he knew he had no other choice, he did, crossing his legs in front of him and looking calmly between the two of them. “Is something the matter?” His voice was steady, which was good, since his nerves were not.

A flicker of a glance between his parents. “We haven't spoken to you since your meeting with Kakihara-san. How did it go?” his father replied.

The fact that they didn't answer the question set Yu on edge, but he tried to keep optimistic. _They're still calm. Maybe they'll stay that way._ “I think it went well. We spoke at great length, and I know she was hoping to speak to me again in a few days.” Which was at least for the most part true. He was hoping he wouldn't have to hear from Meg before Golden Week, and he was almost scot-free in that regard, but who knew.

His father nodded. “Ah yes, she did mention that when she called.”

Yu's whole body went cold. _She'd called?_ Meg had said she'd call his cell, not the house phone! A distant memory hit—he'd had a missed call on his phone when he turned it back on after the concert. It wasn't a familiar number, but he didn't think anything of it. He'd saved Meg's mobile number in his phone, but what if she'd called from a land line? From her work? It could have been one of them? But why wouldn't she call back...?

Unless...

“She called?” Yu managed to eke out.

“Yes, Saturday evening. She hadn't been able to reach you on your mobile phone, and so thinking that perhaps it had died, she called the house.” Yu could hear the blade of the guillotine falling, though his father's tone wasn't shifting from its calm monotone. “Imagine our surprise when we went to get you for the call, and you weren't there.”

“I fell asleep early,” he choked out.

His father's eyes were cold. “Which explains why you returned late that night?” Yu's face blanched. “Oh yes, I know you think you were incredibly smart, locking the spare key in your apartment and then sneaking out, but you might do well to note that just because the lights are out, doesn't mean that we are asleep.”

If Yu's stomach sunk any further, it'd be underground. “I...”

“It is not so much the fact that you went out that we are upset by.” His father's hands clenched into fists. “Nor is it where you went, as I truly have no interest in where you went. The fact that you thought it was appropriate to simply leave for half of a day with no indication of where you were, how long you would be gone, who you were with...that is inexcusable.”

Yu sat in silence, staring at his father, when finally his voice came back to him. “I used to go into the city unsupervised all the time when I was younger.”

“We knew where you were going then,” his mother added.

“And all the nights I was here alone in high school?” Yu struggled to keep from yelling. “I could have been anywhere!”

“Perhaps,” his father conceded. “Yet we trusted you to make intelligent decisions and be responsible even back then, to the point that we gave you our own living space when you started this year, and you have done nothing but show us the error in our ways.”

“Do you have any idea of the life I've lived?” What his voice was missing in volume it seemed to be making up for in pitch. “Do you know what I've been through?”

“Oh please, Yu. Don't play some pitiful-me card—”

“You have _no idea_ what I went through last year!” His grasp on his self-control slipped and the sentence came out in a bark. “You never asked, you don't care, you can't even begin to understand...”

“Will you _stop_ harping about that worthless town!” His father's hand came down in a loud _smack_ against the table in punctuation of his emphasis, and the room fell silent. Yu was stunned; his father was never this demonstrative. “You have made it evidently clear that you think that living through a case which could have just as easily happened here in the city and you never would have known makes you particularly well equipped to handle yourself as an adult.”

“You don't—!” Yu started, but his father interjected.

“Do _not_ interrupt me, young man.” His father's jaw set. “Let me assure you, however, that it appears that your time with your uncle has done nothing but turn you into a petulant child, and I see no reason to treat you otherwise. Until we indicate otherwise, you will be expected to return home immediately following school, and will not be permitted to leave the house unless supervised. Your mother and I have made the sacrifice to rearrange our schedules to ensure that one of us will be home each day when you finish school, and we will reconsider the situation when your behavior has improved.”

Yu was dumbstruck. “You're _grounding_ me?”

“We recognize that you are old enough to make your own decisions and mistakes, Yu-kun,” his mother replied softly, “but we would never be able to forgive ourselves if we did not do everything in our power to ensure your success where we could.”

Yu could only stare at her.

“I've assured Kakihara-san that I would have you call her to apologize for your behavior, and that you regret the interruption in your working with her. Perhaps I was a bit optimistic in thinking that you would be prepared for a program such as hers.” His father stood. “I recommend you do that now.”

Yu sat, utterly still, staring up at his father. All he could see were flashes of a life that seemed like forever ago, of a seven-year-old girl alone in a house, doing laundry and shopping for groceries and preparing meals, all while her father barely gave her a second glance. And if Dojima had ever known about him slipping out at night when he was at work, he never brought it up. The only time Dojima had ever come even close to this...was the night he shut Yu in the interrogation cell.

But even before then, Yu was doing far worse than going to a concert without letting him know, and Dojima had only given him a stern word. A night in the interrogation cell— _because he thought Yu was involved with murders._ This...

“Yes sir.” Yu's voice was steel as he stood, bowed to his parents, and walked out of the room toward his own living space, resisting the urge to slam the door between them. He fished in his bag for his cell phone, finding Meg's number and punching the button to make the call.

It barely rang twice when she picked up. “Yu, I am so sorry.”

He sighed, a fraction of the anger slipping away. “It's not your fault. You couldn't have known.”

“I still feel awful.” He could tell from the strain in her voice. “Here I am, offering to help you, and I manage to make it even worse. I'm not sure there's anything I can do to make this any better at this point.”

“I...” Yu sighed again, pulling a hand through his hair. “I don't know.” He sat down on the couch. “I can't leave the house apart from school hours without being supervised, and I get the feeling they only count themselves as suitable supervisors. I'm apparently calling to apologize for my behavior, and to tell you I regret the interruption in our working together.”

Meg snickered. “Of course. If I can ask, where were you Saturday night?”

“A few guys from my class in school had an extra ticket to the Risette concert. I met Rise while she was in Inaba last year, and thought it would be good to see my old friend again. She got us backstage passes.” He rested his head on the back of the couch.

“Oh right, I remember seeing the commercials for that. Are your parents not in favor of outings with friends?”

Yu grumbled. “My parents aren't in favor of much. We'd had an argument a few days earlier, and I didn't think they'd be keen on the idea. They're never home, so I assumed I could go and come back and they'd be none the wiser. Shows how much I know.”

Meg sighed. “That's...mm, I can't say which would have been the best idea. I'd argue that spending time with your classmates will help you in the long run with career goals, but I'm not sure they'd agree since it's a concert. I don't know. I'm still so sorry, Yu.”

“It's okay.” It wasn't okay and they both knew it. “Getting to Inaba for Golden Week was probably a long shot anyway.”

There was a pause, and when Meg spoke again, she sounded affronted. “Do _not_ tell me you're giving up so early. Come on, where's the spark I saw in you when we met? The Yu Narukami I met would not be giving up so easily just because his parents got mad at him. Think; is there anyway you think that you can find a way out of the house?”

“And then what?” he snapped, regretting the tone as soon as the sentence left his mouth. “I...I'm sorry, Meg. It's just frustrating. Even if I get out of the house, then what? I run away to Inaba? I still need to come back here, and if they were mad about a concert, who knows what will happen if I leave the city without telling them for a week.”

There was a beat before Meg sighed. “I'd offer to invent an event for you to attend with me, but at this point I think your parents would research it before letting you go, even if I were the one to bring it up. I wish I could do more to fix this.”

“It's okay. I'm just...” Yu swallowed, closing his eyes. “I'm just going to call my uncle and explain what happened, and tell him I won't be able to make it. I'll find another time to get back to Inaba. I won't give up on going home, but I know a losing battle when I see one.” _Time to pull back the Personas and run_ , he thought grimly. _I'd rather face Izanami all over again—hell, I'd face Adachi again if it meant getting away from my parents._

“You know I'm still willing to do all I can to make sure you get back there once you graduate.” Meg's voice was soft. “And if there's anything I can do during Golden Week, I'll do it. Do you at least want to 'solidify' that you want to work with me so I can tell your parents?”

Yu breathed out a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, sure. If you can tell them.”

“I'll get in contact with your father tomorrow. I'm sure I can sound properly offended and determined to shape you back into a model citizen. Give me a call if I can do anything else, okay?”

“Sure. Thanks, Meg.”

“Not a problem. Try to relax, all right? Even if you don't get to leave the city, at least you'll be off school for a week.”

Yu managed a faint smile at that, and they said their goodbyes. He paused for a moment, trying to collect himself before dialing the number for his uncle's house.

_Ring...ring...ring...ring..._

“Dojima household.” Yu's throat closed at the sound of his uncle's voice. “Hello?”

“Ah...it's Yu.” He cleared his throat.

“That doesn't sound like good news,” Dojima grumbled. “What's up?”

“I've gotten into a fight with my parents, and I've been confined to the house outside of school times. Leaving for Golden Week is out of the conversation.” Keeping his voice steady was nothing short of a miracle.

His uncle didn't respond for a moment. When he did, his voice had dropped into a tone Yu remembered well from the darker days of the investigation. “What exactly did you do to warrant this?”

“I went to a concert with some friends after school and didn't tell them.”

Dojima sighed. “Well, it's not your brightest decision.”

“And I'm not saying it is. But I'm also not willing to accept that this somehow makes me a petulant child who needs supervision for every second he's not at school. If I was going to be gone overnight, I would have said something.” He paused. “Probably.”

Dojima laughed. “I'd argue with you, but I remember being your age and arguing with my parents. I don't know when my sister lost that.” The detective sighed. “I don't know what's gotten into her, Yu, but I'm sorry it's happening. As far as I'm concerned, you've proven to be a very mature and responsible young man, and I don't blame you for pushing back against your parents if you don't agree with them. God knows the best lessons I've learned as a father came from you, Nanako, or both of you telling me I was being foolish.”

“It's okay, Uncle. Thanks.” Yu closed his eyes. “If you...can you tell Nanako? I'm not sure I can break the news to her myself.”

“Sure, Yu.” Dojima's voice was soft, and that was almost as bad as hearing Nanako cry. “Hang in there, okay? Eventually one of us will get through to your mother, and we'll get you back to visit. They can't keep you locked up forever.”

“Thanks.” Yu managed another small smile. “I'll talk to you later.”

They ended the call, and Yu let his hand drop back to the couch. _I have to tell my friends._ Somehow, telling Meg and his uncle that he couldn't come to Inaba was one thing, but having to tell all of his friends back there...

_Maybe I'll just tell Naoto. She can tell everyone else._

He stood, making his way to his room, ignoring the bag near his feet. Homework just didn't seem appealing anymore. He unfolded his futon, lying down on it to type out a message to Naoto.

To: Naoto _Under house arrest for the foreseeable future. Even a police escort at this point wouldn't help. I'm stuck._

He set his phone on his stomach and stared up at the ceiling. Yu had known this year was going to be a challenge. Just like it had been difficult settling into Inaba—especially since the murders started happening within the first few days he was there—it was going to be hard to readjust to the city. Add in the new house, interacting with his parents again...nothing was going to be simple.

But he'd never guessed it would get this bad.

The phone buzzed and Yu caught it before it slid off of him.

_U WANT 2 TALK?_

Yu sighed.

_Not really. Can you tell the others? I'll text Yosuke. I can't handle everyone asking._

Naoto's response came quickly.

_UNDERSTOOD. WILL TELL OTHERS. TXT IF U NEED._

_Thanks, Naoto. :)_

Now came the hard one. If he was lucky, Yosuke wouldn't automatically call him as soon as he saw the message. If he wasn't sure he could talk to Naoto, he absolutely couldn't talk to Yosuke. His voice was shattered and then he'd have to say something to Yosuke much sooner than he was ready for.

To: Yosuke _Parents have forbidden me to leave the house unless it's for school for the foreseeable future. Golden Week is a no go._

He still had to take a deep breath to fight back the tears. _Dammit. For a place I didn't even know about just over a year ago..._ He wanted Inaba back. He wanted the quiet evenings at Samegawa. He wanted the shopping district, and the biggest store around to be Junes. He wanted a school with clubs that cared about their members, wanted a group of friends who he could trust with his life.

He wanted a family who cared what he thought. What he wanted.

His phone buzzed—luckily, a message.

 _RU KIDDING?! man ur parents r DUMB._ _im sry partner. that sux._

Yu smiled in spite of himself. _Yes, Yosuke. It sucks._ He went to respond, but a second message came in before he could start.

_i ws rly lookin 4wrd 2 seeing u again 2._

His breath caught in his throat, an unvoiced sob half-hidden. His vision blurred as he replied.

_Me too. I miss you._

Part of him wanted to tell Yosuke here and now. Tell him how much he missed him, how wonderful it had been when he'd shown up on Yu's doorstep, that he couldn't imagine spending this entire year a world away from him, that he wished for so much more when Yosuke called him 'partner'... But he couldn't bring himself to do it. As weak as he was, he wanted to tell Yosuke in person. He owed that much to his best friend. If he was going to be rejected, he'd take it in person. So for now, he sent half-messages, trying to convey even a fraction of what he really meant in just a handful of words.

And when the time came, just pray that Igor had been right in saying that some bonds could never be broken.

The phone buzzing brought him back to the present.

 _miss u 2. wish i cud come bk 2 the city._ _inabas not th same w/out my bf._

For just a moment, Yu froze, blinking at the text. _What..._ Though he knew what Yosuke must have meant, the last sentence was standing out. Yosuke was notorious for using text slang for any word he could shorten, but usually there was only one option for what he meant.

 _I wonder if he's going to catch it,_ Yu mused to himself, a smile growing on his lips.

Sure enough, a moment or two later, the series of texts flew in.

_SHIT THATS NOT WHAT I MENT_

_best friend W/OUT MY BEST FRIEND_

_gdit sry wow im not pyin attn_

_u new wht I ment rite_

Yu's smile only wavered, his heart aching at his friend's words. But... _Well, he's walked himself into this. I suppose I can poke at him a little._

_You mean you aren't confessing to me?_

He couldn't help the smile growing now. He could only imagine Yosuke sputtering at his phone, frantically backpedaling from his accidental insinuation. Yu wasn't precisely looking forward to the stream of denials from Yosuke, so he set the phone aside while he took a quick bath and got ready for bed.

As expected, there was a stream of messages waiting for him when he came back.

_Y WUD U EVN SAY THAT wht kind of dumb confession wud that B_

_IM NOT SAYING IM CONFESSING_

_U DONT JST SAY SOM1 IS UR BOYFREIND_

_dmit yu_ _u did tht on perpus_

_purpos? w/e u no wht i mean_

_if im guna cnfess its not guna B ovr txt_

_THAT DOESNT MEAN I_

_gdit i hate u_ _SO_ _much_

_will u jst say smthing_

_nething_

_u wlkd away frm ur phon didnt u_

Yu couldn't help but laugh. Leave it to Yosuke to find a way to put some amount of warmth back in his chest after the chill he'd gotten from the rest of the evening. _I'll put you out of a portion of your misery, Yosuke._

_Sorry, was in the bath. Didn't want to get my phone wet. So should I expect a different confession at some point, then?_

Part of him enjoyed watching Yosuke flounder, but part wondered why he was putting himself through the pain of seeing Yosuke constantly deny Yu's insinuations. _Maybe part of me just hopes that if I 'joke' about it enough, if I ever get the courage to actually tell him, it won't come as a complete surprise..._

There was a long enough pause that Yu wondered if Yosuke had just given up on talking to Yu—which wouldn't have shocked him—but then just as he crawled onto his futon, his phone buzzed again.

_u wish._

Yu's heart jumped into his throat, barely breathing. _How...how do I respond to this?!_ He tried to take a breath, and just barely succeeded. _Just stay calm, Yu._

_And if I said I did?_

It wasn't _exactly_ saying anything, but it was just enough of a hint. He had absolutely no idea how Yosuke was going to take that, but at least now there was a definite enough clue that Yu could reference back to it if...no, when he told Yosuke.

He had to tell him eventually.

It felt like hours before his phone buzzed again.

_gd nite, partner._

He released the breath he'd been holding. He'd take a deflection over a rejection, especially tonight.

_Good night, Yosuke. Sleep well. :)_

_U 2._

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slinks into the room* heeeeeeey~
> 
> So hey everyone! WOW I am sorry that this took forever. There's a million reasons why, not the least of which being that I got a job and my schedule got completely borked. Then there was November and the National Novel Writing Month and that was all of THAT month, and now it's December and I defended my masters thesis on the 11th so there was a bunch of work to be done on THAT...
> 
> And now it's all done, and I'm trying to find my way back into writing. I won't make any promises for when Chapter 11 comes out (since my schedule is still really weird, with the holidays coming up) but I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE STORY. I promise that I will finish it! Promise promise promise.
> 
> I just hope this chapter lives up to the wait. Thank you all so much for being patient with me!

_Saturday April 28 th – Evening – Clear_

 

Yu hadn't spoken with his parents at all since the argument on Wednesday. They'd spoken to him, telling him they'd received Meg's call and were proud of his decision to be mature and continue working, but he'd never responded. He'd nodded, bowed, and returned to his side of the house. Yu had no idea what they thought of his new behavior, and they made no mention of it. He went to class, came home to do his work, fell asleep. None of his friends contacted him; he wasn't surprised. It would be just as painful for them as it would for him to talk to them, knowing he wasn't going to see them. Even Yosuke had been quiet.

Yu felt numb. This was his life now. Living someone else's life...until he could find a way to escape. Maybe Meg would find a way, maybe she wouldn't. Maybe the Shadows would come back and eat his parents. Who knew.

If only he could still access the Shadow world. Just a nudge...

_That's awful, Yu. Don't even joke about that._ Even with as angry as he was, he couldn't imagine pushing his parents into a TV. _You're not Adachi. You're not Namatame. You know better._ Even if he didn't want to, he knew better. And he didn't want to find his parents dangling from a phone pole.

He'd seen enough of that to last a lifetime.

He stared at his kitchen, trying to muster up the energy to find some kind of food for dinner. _I need to eat something. Even if it's just ramen, I need to eat something. ...what I wouldn't give to be able to just call Aiya._ He'd never tracked down an equivalent in the city, and he regretted that now. It probably wouldn't take long to find, but that was more effort than he wanted to put into food. Ramen would be easy.

_Or miso. Miso is easy too._

He'd made it as far as standing up and taking a few steps to the fridge when there was a knock at the door. Yu blinked, trying to place where the sound was coming from; it didn't sound like his door, but he couldn't be sure. He walked over to the door into the main hallway and opened it, not sure if his parents were even home anymore to answer—then of course remembering that of course one of them was home. He was here, wasn't he? A jailer had to be here.

His mother had gotten to the door just as he'd opened his, and she slid the door open...

And Yu couldn't breathe.

“Big bro!” Nanako pushed her way past her father and aunt, careening toward Yu to tackle-hug him, arms tight around his waist. “I missed you so much!”

Now the numbness had taken on a whole different quality. _What...?_ He set a hand on Nanako's head—solidly there; not a hallucination—and looked over at his uncle. Dojima, for his part, was staring down his sister and not paying the kids much mind. After what seemed like ages, he pulled Nanako back so that he could kneel and give her a proper hug, tight to his chest. “Hi Nanako. I missed you too.”

“Ryotaro, I hope you have a damn good explanation for this,” Yu could hear his mother say, ice frosting each word.

“I think I do, Kyoko.” Dojima's voice was steel. “And I think you know full well what it is.”

“You have _no right_ , Ryotaro. _No right_ to walk in here and _inform me_ as to how to raise _my_ son.” Yu's mother's voice was getting louder, and he was distantly grateful that his father wasn't home. These two shouting would be bad enough.

Dojima wasn't rising to the bait. His voice stayed just as even as ever. “If it was just that, I wouldn't have come all the way here for it. But this goes beyond just parenting choices. This is asinine.”

Yu took a breath and looked at Nanako. “Why don't you and I go sit in my part of the house until our parents are done fighting.”

“Okay. You have your own house?” Nanako easily switched from the hug to holding Yu's hand as he walked them both back through his door, shutting it softly on the angry voices.

“Kinda! See?” He indicated around him. “The house is split in two, so I get my own part and my parents get theirs. It's a little like starting to live on my own.”

“It seems lonely.” True to her nature, she wandered to the kitchen and opened his refrigerator. “You don't shop very well.”

Yu managed a laugh. “No, I guess not. I used to be better at it when I was living with you and your dad. It's boring cooking just for one person, though.”

“Do what I used to do! You can cook for two, and then have leftovers.” She smiled back at him, and a weight lifted off his shoulders, a feeling of warmth rushing in he'd been missing for days now. “Except for you, you're not expecting a second person.” She laughed, eyes closed in a smile.

“Maybe I will, Nanako. Maybe I will.” He started to ask her something else, but his mother's voice cut through the walls.

“You are _insane_ if you think I am going to _let_ you do _anything_ of the sort!”

Yu's eyebrows rose. His mother was practically shrieking, something he didn't think he'd ever heard her do. He glanced at Nanako. “Do you know what your father's trying to make her do?”

She nodded. “Mm-hmm. He wants to bring you back home for Golden Week. He said if she wasn't going to see reason over the phone, he'd just have to come take matters into his own hands.”

_Back home_. Now there were words he missed. Yu could hear Dojima's tone in Nanako's voice, and the smile came easily. “That sounds like him. Let's just hope he wins.”

“I hope so too.” She walked back over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist again. “I miss you a lot, big bro.”

“I miss you too.” He hugged her back, then moved so they could both sit on the couch. “I miss everyone in Inaba. I don't really like the city anymore.”

“Can't you come back?” Nanako looked up at him, eyes pleading. “I know Dad would let you stay! You can just go to school there again!”

“I wish I could.” His heart was breaking, looking at that face. _Trust me, Nanako. I'd be back at Yasogami in a heartbeat if I could._ “But my mom wants me to stay in the city. It's been a while since I was here with her.” He wanted to finish that with “and she probably misses me” but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He couldn't lie that blatantly to Nanako.

Nanako tilted her head. “But...if you're not happy here in the city, shouldn't your mom want you to go back so you could be happy? Even if that means going away from her?”

_Good question, Nanako._ Yu had to close his eyes for a second. “I don't know. I'm not sure my parents and I really understand each other. Remember how it used to be with you and your dad, when he was always gone and didn't listen to you? When he hid at work because thinking of your mom made him sad?”

She nodded. “Are your parents hiding from something too, big bro?”

“I wish I knew,” he whispered. Nanako wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, which he was all too happy to return. It was true—it drove him crazy that no matter what he did, he could not figure out what made his parents tick. What was their motivation? Was there something in it for them he just wasn't seeing? Or were they just such insufferable control freaks that the thought of Yu making his own decisions was utterly unacceptable?

But then how could he explain the rest of his life? As long as his grades stayed up and he didn't get into trouble at school, his parents had always ignored him. It seemed unlikely that they'd been playing a huge waiting game up until now, just lurking in the background until they could strike and mold him into whatever they wanted him to be.

But...that left the year in Inaba unexplained. True, they had been absentee parents, but there hadn't ever been someone else “interfering” in their plan—no other parental figures. Dojima would put a damper on that, if that was in fact the case. And given how much his mother and his uncle were fighting about this now, it seemed unlikely that somehow, they'd accepted Dojima to back them up.

_So what happens now?_ For all of the joking he and Naoto had done, he hadn't actually expected a police escort of any kind. So for his uncle to be here, fighting his case to go back to Inaba...he'd never expected anything like it.

Part of him was surprised Yosuke hadn't chimed in on this. Or Naoto. Or any of his friends, really.

Or all of them.

Why couldn't the real world be more like the Shadow world? Not with all the fighting and terror, but with Personas and Social Links and things that Yu understood. He knew how to deal with the problems he faced with his friends. He didn't know how to deal with his parents—uncommunicative and obstinate and unwilling to let him do anything to help.

If only he had a Social Link to break with them. Not that he wanted to relive the soul-wrenching distress like he had with Adachi, but it would mean he'd at least have something somewhere to show that the relationship had changed...even if it was only in his mind.

“Big bro?” Nanako's voice broke through his thoughts and he looked down at her. “It'll be okay.” She set her head on his arm. “No matter what, it'll be okay.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that's all we need to remember, right? Everything will be okay.” Yu set his chin on the top of her head. _Honestly, there's more truth in that than she knows._ If everything worked out last year—at least for one definition of working out—then he'd be able to work out this year with his parents. “It'll be fine.”

The voices of the adults out in the entryway had quieted down. Yu wasn't sure if his uncle had taken his mother into a different room or if the argument had stopped, and he truly wasn't sure he wanted to know which was the truth. _Who wins this fight?_ In his heart, he wanted Dojima to win. He wanted to go back _home_ , back to Inaba.

But his mind knew his mother would win. His actual guardian, the one who had legal control over him. And for all the hope in his heart, there was a part of him that had already given up.

It had to have been at least half an hour before there was a soft knock at his door. “Yes?” he called, unwilling to move from his safe cocoon on the couch with Nanako.

The door cracked open and his father's face peeked in—surprising Yu, since he hadn't thought his father was home. “You have a spare futon for your cousin, don't you?” His father's tone gave away nothing, keeping his voice far too level for Yu's liking.

“Y-yes?” Yu blinked.

“Ryotaro and Nanako will be staying with us for the night before returning to Inaba tomorrow. We'll house Ryotaro on our side, if you can set up a futon for Nanako.”

Yu nodded, hesitating for only a fraction. “Of...of course.”

His father nodded and left again, shutting the door behind him. Nanako and Yu exchanged glances, each as unsure as the other. “Do you think...?” she asked, voice little more than a whisper.

“I don't know, Nanako. We'll see. For now, let's go set up a futon for you. I've got a guest room you can stay in.”

Nanako's smile was blinding in how excited she looked. “Okay! Maybe I can make you sunny-side up eggs for breakfast in the morning!”

Yu could have burst into tears. “I'd love it if you would.”

* * *

The two had set up the futon and were sitting in the guest room talking about all the fragments of memories from Inaba he had on the bookshelf when Yu heard a knock on his door again. “Come in; the door's unlocked,” he called out.

The door opened and a moment later, his uncle appeared in the doorway, face a perfect mask. “Looks like you're all settled in for the night.”

Nanako grinned up at her father. “Big bro says I can make him sunny-side up eggs in the morning!”

Dojima's lips quirked in his typical half-smile. “Sounds good to me. Think I'll be able to come over and get some too?”

“Of course!” Nanako looked over at Yu. “Do you have a coffee maker, so Dad can make us coffee?”

Yu nodded. “Yeah, of course. That'd be nice, if he's willing.” He looked over at his uncle.

Dojima nodded. “Coffee and eggs sounds like a good way to start a travel day. It'll be crowded, since it's the start of Golden Week, but we shouldn't have too much of a problem. Most people will be headed away from Inaba instead of toward it. Not too many people in the world who'd rather vacation in a boring little town like mine.”

“Yeah, it should be good...” Yu's voice gave out as he thought about the way his uncle had phrased that. _We shouldn't have too much of a problem._ _Not many people in the world who'd want to vacation in Inaba._ He looked back at Dojima, who was having trouble biting back the smile creeping onto his face. “Wait, you didn't...”

Now Dojima just let himself grin. “She's not happy about it, but I know how to argue with my sister. We'll catch a train tomorrow morning, and I'll get you a ticket back on the 6th.”

Yu couldn't breathe. _He can't be serious._ But one look at that smile and he knew that his uncle wasn't that good of a liar. He wouldn't tease about something like this. “I...but...” Yu could feel tears pricking at his eyes. “How?”

Dojima rolled his shoulders. “Let's just say I remember more of our childhood than your mother would like to admit, and try as she might, she doesn't have a firm leg to stand on to keep you here over the holiday. Besides, I had a little help from an outside source.”

Yu blinked. “Outside...source?”

“Your friend Meg called me Thursday evening, saying that she was fairly certain you needed an intervention. We spoke to the gentleman your parents wanted you to talk to, and he was perfectly willing to reschedule a meeting for after the holiday. Turns out he wanted to be somewhere else too.” Dojima winked. “And if Kyoko wants you to study so damn much, we'll study before you go to sleep each night—since I know your friends will want the rest of your time.”

Yu's vision was completely blurry, and he couldn't force the grin off his face. “I...yeah, I guess. Thank...thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Eh, you're family, kid.” Dojima tousled Yu's hair. “I try to look out for my own.” He shifted his weight back toward the door. “Nanako, it's about time you headed to bed. Don't let your cousin keep you up all night, okay? We've got a long day tomorrow.”

“And I need to make breakfast!” Nanako grinned, nodding. “We'll go to bed soon, right big bro?”

“Right.”

“Night, Yu. Night, sweetheart.”

“Night, uncle.”

“Night, Daddy!”

How he managed to keep the tears from falling until after his uncle had left, he'd never know. But Nanako gave him a hug, they settled down for the night, and for once, Yu didn't dread waking up in the morning.

Tonight, he knew his dreams would be sweet.

_I'm coming, Yosuke._

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whistles innocently*
> 
> See?! I told you I wasn't done! *hides*
> 
> Honestly, I don't have a good excuse for how long this took other than I'm a lazy bum and inspiration wasn't hitting me for long enough bursts for me to get anything written. However, with the release of Persona 5, all the Persona feels are coming back to me in full force, and I'm hoping to get another play-through of Golden done as well. (Since I'm unemployed, I'll certainly have the time...)
> 
> I'm not making any promises about how quickly I'll post, or how consistently, but I do promise I'm not going to wait another year and a half until the next chapter. We're going to get these boys their story, because it's long...long overdue.
> 
> I hope this comes at least close to being worth the wait.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Sunday April 29 th – Morning – Mostly Sunny_

 

Yu couldn't see straight for the entire morning. Nanako making breakfast, the three of them all drinking coffee together...it was all too good to be true, and that wasn't even taking into consideration the fact that he was _actually going back to Inaba._ It didn't matter that it was only for Golden Week. It didn't matter that he'd have to come back to his hell hole of a city life after that.

If he could come back for Golden Week, he could come back again. He wouldn't be kept away.

For the first time since he'd left Inaba...he actually felt like there was hope for the future.

It was almost sad that it took so little to raise his spirits again.

Nanako was chattering happily about all the things that had happened in the small town while Yu had been away, and Dojima was sitting quietly, watching Yu with the faintest impression of a smile sketched across his lips. Yu pretended he didn't see it; he knew why his uncle was smiling. He could still see the shock written on his face himself if he looked in the mirror.

_I'm going home. I'm finally going home. I need to call Meg and thank her a thousand times over._

"Are you excited, big bro?" Nanako's question cut through the haze of Yu's thoughts, and he shook his head a bit to clear it.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be excited to come back to Inaba?"

"You've just been really quiet."

Yu smiled. "I'm still just surprised, Nanako. It's been a long time coming for me to come visit."

She nodded decisively. "Dad had a bunch of arguments! But we won!"

"We did win." The grin was growing. "We really did."

There was a knock at Yu's door, and Dojima's eyebrow raised at his nephew, who stood to go and answer. Sliding the door open, he found both his parents standing there, faces stony masks, completely hiding any emotion they might have been feeling. Yu could almost feel his own mask slide over his expression, refusing to give anything away as well.

"Good morning, Yu. May we come in?" his father asked. Yu didn't speak, and simply stepped aside to let them walk in. They filed in to stand awkwardly in his living area, looking at the other two eating. "I apologize. I didn't realize you were still eating."

"What can I do for you?" Yu asked, ignoring the comment. He wasn't going to tell them it was fine when them coming over here at all wasn't exactly welcome in general.

"Can't we just..." His mother's voice faded as Dojima glanced up at her. She cleared her throat. "We just wanted to see you before you headed out. We're going into the city for a while, and it's likely we won't be back by the time you all have to leave to catch your train to Inaba." She still couldn't quite hide all the disdain in her voice when she named the town.

Again, he ignored it. "I appreciate the thought. I think we'll have everything sorted shortly, and the two of you can enjoy the holiday."

"Yu..." his father said, voice low but not quite chastising.

Yu just shook his head, waving it off. "It's been a very difficult time for all three of us. I think this holiday will give us all time to recollect ourselves, find our feet, and when we're all together again, we can approach it like adults again. I understand that my actions have been less than exemplary, and I will be looking at myself and my motives to determine why and what can be done about it. I hope that you will take the time to be introspective as well."

His mother looked like she wanted to fight that claim, but his father set a hand on her shoulder. "I think that's a very mature decision, Yu. Enjoy your time in Inaba, and we'll see you again when you're back home."

Yu nodded, and his parents filed back out. As soon as the door shut behind them, Yu released the breath he'd been holding and slid back down into his seat. "That was quite the speech," Dojima mused.

"I can't take all the credit for it. I've been working on something like that since last night, and Naoto gave me at least half of those lines." The young detective had clearly enjoyed herself far too much through it all. Now if only he could convince her to take anything she'd been telling him and just apply it to herself. He was going to have to start working on Kanji soon if he didn't get through to her.  _Who'd have thought that it'd be easier to argue with Kanji?_  But Naoto proved again and again that for all her devotion to facts and logic, emotions never quite fit in there.

Dojima laughed. "Yeah, I can hear Shirogane in there. Still, it's not bad, and it's at least mostly true, I'd bet."

"Yeah." It really was true. Yu knew perfectly well that he'd made a bunch of stupid decisions this whole time, and while he didn't regret them, he regretted what had happened because of it. He knew the answer was to talk to his parents more, but if they weren't going to listen... This was going to take a long time before anything worked out, but if it meant he could go home again, he'd do it.

They finished their breakfast and Yu washed up the dishes while Nanako ran around straightening up anything she could find to straighten, and packing the last little bits. She'd grabbed a bag from a closet and would call out objects for Yu to determine if he needed them or not. It was precious, and it kept a smile on his face the whole time.

Once he was done he shouldered his bags, locked his door behind them, and loaded everything up into the rental car Dojima was driving.  _This is really happening. This isn't a dream._ His initial instinct was to grab his phone and tell everyone that he was coming, but he kind of wanted it to be a surprise. Yosuke had suddenly shown up on his doorstep. Maybe this time he could show up on Yosuke's.

The grin wouldn't fade even if he tried.

* * *

He'd hesitated for a moment once they were back at the house. There was a knot in his chest the size of the shrine as he looked around, flooded with memories from the past year. He wanted to be here, and Dojima and Nanako had done so much to get him here...he should spend time with them. But...

Dojima set a hand on Yu's shoulder. "Go see your friends, Yu. We'll still be here when you get back. I'm sure they're all going to want to see you."

"I don't...I know you worked hard to get me here..."

"But you are here!" Nanako gave him a hug. "And we'll be here allllll Golden Week. Don't worry, big bro! Go say hi to everyone!"

How could he argue with that logic? He thanked them both and grabbed his bike. Everyone was within walking distance, but he knew that the person who deserved to know he was here first was going to be a slightly longer drive than all the others.

It was such an overwhelming feeling, riding through the town again. Every tiny thing held so many memories. He knew he'd thought that about a thousand times since he'd gotten on the train, but it didn't make it any less true. And while the house he stopped outside of didn't have as many direct memories, that didn't change the knot in his throat as he knocked on the door.

A familiar man in a suit answered. "Good evening? How can I assist you?"

"I was wondering if the master of the house was in. I'm a friend."

He stepped aside to let Yu step in. "One moment, and I will fetch her." The man vanished up the steps of the house, and it was only a matter of moments before he heard rushed footsteps--and looked up to see Naoto screech to a halt just before the stairs. "Oh my god." She ran down the stairs to stand in front of him, hesitating with an incredulous expression for just a moment, and then just made a soft squeak of a sound and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

Yu laughed and returned the gesture. "Who is this person full of emotion and demonstrative behavior, and what have you done with my detective friend?"

He could hear Naoto chuckle against his chest, and slowly she pulled away from him. "You caught me by surprise. I suppose I can't always be entirely stoic." The smile she was wearing was as bright as he'd ever seen her, which made him feel infinitely better about how she'd been faring after he left. Not that Naoto Shirogane needed anyone to watch out for her, but...sometimes, he was pretty sure she could use someone who understood her. "How are you here? Do I need to set up a police detail somewhere to hide you from your parents? I'm sure Yakushiji-san could have a spare room made up for you shortly, if necessary."

He just grinned. "No need. Your offering of a police escort actually wasn't too far off. My uncle finally decided enough was enough and he came to the city to get me himself. I don't know how he did it, but my parents let me go."

She was still beaming. "Oh Yu, that's such excellent news. Have you told anyone else that you're here?"

He shook his head. "I wanted it to be a surprise, at least for a few of you. I figured you deserved to be the first to know."

Naoto tilted her head, miming a glare over glasses at him. "You know full well where I would tell you to be."

"That's why I didn't tell you." He winked, and she barely resisted rolling her eyes. "I also had a feeling you'd say that, so I wasn't planning on being here all that long. Just...after everything...I wanted you to know first."

Her smile faded into the more common soft expression she had, more in her eyes than on her lips. "I appreciate that, Yu. I really do." She gave him another quick hug. "Now go. Tell me how he reacts."

Yu laughed. "I will." With a final wave, he hopped back on his bike, and made for the one place he wanted to be the most...and the place that terrified him the most to go to.

* * *

It took him almost five solid minutes to knock on the door. His parents were home; he could tell by the cars in the driveway. But who was going to answer the door? At least when Yosuke came to see him, the only person who really could have answered was Yu...

The door opened and it was Yosuke's mother, whose eyes widened at the sight. "Oh my..."

Yu put a finger to his mouth, trying to keep the surprise for just a moment longer. She put her hands over her mouth. "Is Yosuke in his room?" She nodded, not moving her hands. "Do you mind if I go surprise him?"

He could see her eyes glisten as she shook her head and stepped aside. "It's good to see you," she whispered as he slipped by, and he shot her a smile as he slipped back, mouthing a "thank you." Yosuke's bedroom door was closed, which meant there was a better than average chance he had his headphones on.  _Of course, Yosuke at almost any time has a better than average chance of wearing his headphones._  He didn't want to just bang on the door...

And then an idea came.

Yu pulled out his phone and sent Yosuke a short text.

> To: Yosuke           _Hey, what are you up to?_

A moment later, he heard Yosuke's text alert go off, and him scuffling around to pick it up from wherever it was sitting. The silence waiting for the response to come was almost unbearable. He hit the volume button on his phone several times, making sure it wouldn't make a sound. Finally, it buzzed in his hand.

> _nothin rly. listn 2 music, decidin wut 2 do 4 gldn wk. U?_

Yu just bit back the smile.

> _I was thinking of taking a walk down to the Samegawa, but it's pretty boring all on my own._

This time when he heard the buzz, a second later Yu heard a huge clattering sound--likely as Yosuke tipped his chair over backwards--and then several curses in quick succession. Yu had to put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"What the hell?!" was the first coherent sentence Yu could make out from inside Yosuke's room. The reply text came shortly after.

> _WUT DO U MEEN SAMEGAWA WHRE R U??!?!?!_

Now that Yu was pretty sure his headphones weren't on, he took a breath, pocketed his phone, and rapped on the door.

...Dead silence. The breath caught in Yu's throat.

It felt like an eternity before the door finally opened, showing a very rumpled Yosuke with his headphones around his neck and hoodie crooked--and the look on his face went from apprehensive and confused to utter shock in a flash. And there was only thing Yu could think of to say.

"Hey there, partner."

For a split second, nothing happened. Yosuke's expression didn't shift, neither of them moved, the world held still for just that moment. And then before Yu even saw him move, Yosuke had done exactly as Naoto had, and tugged him into a tight hug. Yu couldn't even speak, he just set his arms around Yosuke's shoulders and closed his eyes.

It was an eternity later, but still far too soon, when Yosuke pulled himself back and held Yu at arm's length, his expression caught between utter confusion and thinly veiled anger. "What the  _hell_ are you doing here? How did you even get here? Your parents are gonna kill you, dude."

All Yu could do was smile and shake his head. "Uncle got tired of fighting with his sister, and he came and got me himself. I don't know how he did it, but I'm here for Golden Week."

Yosuke couldn't speak for a moment. "All of it?"

"All of it. I'll be headed back to the city just before school starts again. I'll be in Inaba for the whole holiday." That got him another hug, and Yu had to laugh. "Okay, I'm not sure who you are and what you've done with my best friend, but..."

Yosuke pulled back with a laugh of his own. "Sorry, partner. I..." He shrugged. "You and your weirdness are just rubbing off on me, I guess."

"Mm-hmm. Well, I suppose I can survive a hug or two from Yosuke Hanamura," Yu responded, winking as the completion of the echo from what Yosuke had told Yu in the city--and the grin Yosuke shot him showed that he'd caught that. "I was being serious about Samegawa, though. I just want to enjoy being in Inaba again, and that seems...I don't know, it just feels like that kind of wraps up everything that Inaba is in a neat little pocket."

Yosuke nodded, already zipping up his hoodie. "You got it, partner." He hit the light and bounced down the stairs. "Yu and I are gonna go out down to the river for a bit!"

"Have fun; be careful" Yu heard his mother call back, and the two walked out the door and hopped on their respective bikes.

"Yeah Yosuke, you better be careful. I'm not making any promises on pulling you out of trash cans again if you crash yourself."

Yosuke pulled a face at Yu. "This bike is way better now, thanks so much. We'll just see who's crashing into trash cans. Race you there!"

Yu didn't mind the head start that gave Yosuke as they both started down the road. It just meant that he'd spend the whole ride there watching the wind buffet Yosuke's hair around, and be reminded with every breath of why he'd come back.

Now if only he could find the words to tell Yosuke any of this.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lookit me, updating a week later. ;) I think P5 is helping me get a bit of my groove back...
> 
> Enjoy, y'all!

_ Sunday April 29 -- Night -- Cloudy _

For the most part, once they'd gotten to the river, the two had just sat in silence, lying in the grass, watching the stars and listening to the water babble around. Yu could almost hear each breath Yosuke took, and could see his friend's chest rising and falling with each sigh.  _ What can I say to him?  _ Yu had no idea how he was going to broach this topic with Yosuke. He didn't want to say something now and risk the entire trip being awkward...but if he waited until the end, he'd probably either chicken out and not say anything, or it'd almost be worse to drop that on Yosuke and then vanish on the train. Just leave his friend to deal with the falling out after finding out that your best friend actually has a crush on you and  _ that's a little awkward because he's a dude and so are you  _ and then what? Just expecting everything to work out while they were miles away from each other? That seemed almost cruel.

_ Of course, there is another alternative that you don't seem to want to consider. _

It was true, of course. And it wasn't that he didn't  _ want _ to consider it, but more...he didn't want to get his hopes up. 

_ Because what if he actually...likes me back? _

Even if it wasn't easy, if it was awkward, if Yosuke ran himself around in circles for hours about it, there was still a distant chance that he'd turn to Yu and say "well partner, I...I don't know about that, but...I mean...maybe we can just play it by ear?" That would be better than a denial. That would be better than seeing his face crumple into something from Kanji's Shadow's bathhouse. Yu wasn't sure he was strong enough to watch Yosuke look at him that way...and know it was because Yu had told him his feelings.

Whatever those feelings were. God, how was he going to say anything when he didn't even know what to say? He'd never really needed to confess to anyone before. Chie and he had figured it out on their own--and really, she'd started that more than him--and Naoto and he had never much said a word about feelings if they could avoid it. It wasn't something he'd needed to think about. And certainly...there hadn't been anyone who made him as nervous as Yosuke.

Yu turned his head, looking over at his friend as Yosuke's eyes tracked something in the night sky.  _ He looks so calm. So...happy. _ Was it because Yu came home? That was a pretty arrogant assumption. But...Yu also remembered what Yosuke had looked like when he'd shown up in the city. How easy everything had felt then. How natural the smiles felt, after the days of forcing them for his parents...for his school...

Yosuke noticed him looking and glanced back. "What's up, partner?"

Yu snapped back to the present. "Nothing. Just thinking about when you came to visit me."

Yosuke grinned. "That was a fun trip, man. I wish I could have stayed longer."

"I wish you could have too." Yu let a beat of silence pass. "I wish I didn't have to go back."

Yosuke blew out a sigh. "Yeah, me too, partner. I mean, I guess I kinda understand what your parents are on about? But at the same time, it's not gonna do anyone any good if you're just miserable and moping. Not...not saying that you are, but...you know what I mean," he stammered out.

Yu chuckled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. And trust me, there's been more than enough misery and moping that I can't take offense."

"Exactly. And I know how hard it is to try and pretend school matters at all when you don't want to be where you are." Yosuke's voice had gotten softer, and he looked back up at the sky. "I spent so long trying anything I could to get out of here. I wanted back in the city, I wanted the excitement and the bustle and everything. I was bored. I mean, not like I really wanted a weird god interfering with our world and murdering people to make it more interesting, but...it got me a good group of friends, and that's really what made the difference."

It was a thought that had occurred to Yu more than once. The fact that Inaba could be as boring as anything else...but that it was his friends that had made everything worthwhile. Maybe, if only someone had reached out... "I wonder what would have been different if someone had tried to talk to Adachi."

Yosuke scowled. "He was an ass from start to finish. I don't think talking to him would have helped."

"I don't mean when we really knew him," Yu clarified. "I tried more than once to talk to him, try and be friendly...both before and after I knew what was happening, honestly. But he showed up to Inaba bitter, and Izanami just took advantage of that. From what I remember...there never really was anyone there for him, at any point in the matter. What do you think you would have done if you'd never met me? Hadn't ever become better friends with everyone else? Hadn't faced your Shadow or anything like that?"

"I wouldn't have gone around killing people," he grumbled.

"Yosuke, I'm being serious."

"I know." He huffed out a sigh. "I don't know, really. I mean, if I'd been faced with something like that...and I'd been all alone? Pushed aside, treated badly...yeah, maybe I would have done something stupid. But you said it yourself. You tried to reach out to him, and he wouldn't listen. But when you showed up and you tried to be my friend, I reacted to that. I learned to appreciate what there was in Inaba, and not focus on what it didn't have. Adachi never managed to do that."

"I just wonder what might have happened if he'd had someone step into his life earlier." Yu looked up at the sky as well, focusing on the stars. "Maybe he'll change once he's out of prison."

"If he ever gets out of prison," Yosuke responded. "I don't even want to know. If I never see that jerk again, it'll be too soon."

Another beat of silence passed between the two, and Yosuke broke the silence again. "What...what do you think you're gonna do after high school? I mean, I kinda assume you're doing the whole college thing, but..."

Yu nodded. "Whatever I do, I'm making sure I can come back closer to here. I know my parents want me to get into Kyoto or something, but I don't care about the name. I care that it's a good program, and that it's close to home. My real home."

"Man. Did you ever think you'd call this place that?" Yu could hear the grin on Yosuke's lips. "When you first showed up and didn't know anyone or anything...did you ever think this would feel like home?"

"No." That was a simple answer. For as much as he loved Inaba now, that wasn't how he'd seen it at first at all. It was nice to be away from his parents, but... "I'm glad it is, though."

"Me too, partner."

The pauses were killing him.  _ Just say something. _ But he couldn't.  _ What if it goes badly? No, I can't say anything now. I have to wait. I'll tell him before I leave. I want to make sure I get as much time with him...before everything gets awkward. _

He must have zoned out for longer than he realized, because when Yu came back around, Yosuke was sitting up and staring at him. Yu blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Yosuke laughed. "I asked if you'd fallen asleep over there. I'm not sure if I was right or not."

"No, just...just thinking." He coughed. "Preoccupied, I guess. Sorry, Yosuke."

"Nah man, it's okay. You've got a lot to think about. I may be greedy, but I suppose I don't need you to pay attention to me  _ all _ the time."

_ If only you knew, Yosuke... _ Instead, Yu just smiled. "Should I cut back on my Yosuke shrine then? I was planning on making it bigger, but..."

Yosuke choked, and Yu had to laugh. "Dude!" Yosuke shook his head, still smiling, much to Yu's relief. "You have the weirdest sense of humor, I swear." His smile softened. "Honestly though, I'm really happy you ended up coming here, just in general. I don't know how I would have gotten through last year without you."

Yu felt a twinge in his chest and he swallowed. "There's no telling how much of what happened last year would have still happened if I hadn't been there. Maybe you would have been in my place. Who knows. But even so...I'm glad I came as well. I couldn't ask for a better best friend."

"Same here, partner. Same here."

Yu sat up to match Yosuke. "Do you want to go anywhere else? I mean, I don't really care where I am, so long as it's here in Inaba."

"Well, I figure it's too late to tell anyone else you're here, so you're stuck with me for the night."

"Oh no. Whatever will I do. How could you."

Yosuke cracked up. "Uh huh, sure. But I mean, we can stay here or we can go back to my place and just chill...I don't really care. We've got all week. I mean, I know everyone's going to want a piece of you, and I don't blame them." He grinned. "So I guess I have to enjoy tonight while it lasts."

Yu couldn't respond to that. Nothing he thought of was even close to anything he'd want to say. At least...not right now. "I'm sure we'll all spend time together," was finally what Yu came up with. "Just like old times, except maybe we don't always have to be at Junes."

Yosuke groaned. "Please, anywhere but Junes. I'm there too much working as it is, and it's only going to get worse once I graduate. Did I tell you Dad's trying to make me a manager?"

"No, you didn't. That's a good thing though, Yosuke! I think you'd be an excellent manager. You always did well when we were in the TV world, helping me manage everyone and get everyone in and out safely."

Yu thought he could see a trace of a blush across Yosuke's cheeks at that. "Well thanks, partner. I'm not so sure about it myself, but I'm not expecting to get much of a choice." He shrugged. "Whatever. It'll all do whatever it's gonna do, and I'll figure it out as I go. It's not like I have a better idea of what to do with my life after high school."

"You really haven't thought about it?" Yu looked over at him. "You don't have any ideas?"

"Eh." Yosuke shrugged again. "I don't really think I have too many skills that would be useful in the rest of the world. I mean, you've been talking about doing like counselor work, and that'd be perfect for you, but I wouldn't do well at that at all. Naoto's gonna be a detective, Kanji's got the shop and his knitting or whatever... Chie wants to be a cop, Yukiko's got the Inn...everyone's got something except for me. I don't even know what I'd want to do. I mean, I like music, but I'm not really a musician. The store is fine, but I don't really want to be there for the rest of my life. I don't know, partner. I'm at a loss."

"Well, you've still got a little time. At least you have the store to fall back on for now."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, that's true." He leaned back on his hands. "So what do you think? Stay at the river, or go back home?"

"Mmmm." Yu leaned back again. "I get the feeling that if we stay here, I'm going to fall asleep on the grass and you're going to have to figure out how to get both of us and both of our bikes home on your own."

"Who says I wouldn't just leave you?" Yu glared over at Yosuke, and just got a grin in response. "Okay, home it is then. We'll just watch a movie or something dumb. And I promise I won't laugh at you if you fall asleep on me."

"It's been a long day," Yu allowed. "I'll call my uncle and tell him I'll be at your house for the night then."

"Oh, do you want to just crash at Dojima's then? I know my parents won't care."

"Are you sure? I can call him." Yosuke shrugged and Yu flipped open his phone to call his uncle.

"Dojima household," Nanako greeted him. 

"Hey Nanako, is your dad around? I've got a question for him."

"Sure!" She ran off with the phone.

Dojima's voice came back a moment later. "Hey there Yu. What is it?"

"Do you mind if Yosuke came and crashed with us for the night?"

Dojima chuckled. "No, I don't mind. Your friends are always welcome over here, as long as I know they're coming. I doubt we could round up enough extra futons for all of them at once, but they're always welcome. Bring him over."

"Thanks so much, Uncle." Yu hung up and nodded to Yosuke. "Yeah, he doesn't mind. Do you want to head back to your house and get some stuff? Or do you want to just meet me back at my place?"

"It'll only take a second, if you want to tag along." Yu nodded and the two rode back to Yosuke's house, let Yosuke get his stuff and double check with his parents, and then they headed back to the Dojima house. After chatting with Dojima and Nanako for a little, the two vanished up into Yu's room and watched television until Yu couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Getting ready for bed, while Yosuke was getting changed, Yu set up the extra futon and tried not to let his mind wander.  _ It's crazy. I've barely had anyone in here for any reason...and now Yosuke's sharing a room with me. It's all for the best that I'm exhausted. I don't think I'd be able to sleep otherwise. How did I sleep when Yosuke came to see me in the city...?  _ That was easy, the more he thought about it. Because he hadn't really accepted it then. It wasn't until Naoto made him say it that he'd really accepted that particular truth.

_ I'm in love with my best friend. God, Yosuke, how am I ever going to tell you that... _

"Partner?" Yu jumped at Yosuke's voice, and turned to face him. Yosuke had changed into drawstring pants and a sleeveless shirt, and just looked amused. "You okay down there?"

"Yeah, just... Just tired." Yu chuckled and stood up. "I think your futon should be all set now."

"Thanks." Yosuke went and sat down on the spare futon, and Yu sat on his own. "It's really nice of your uncle to let me come on such short notice."

"I think Uncle just expects random things from me." Yu settled down in the futon, and Yosuke turned off the lights. "At least we're not causing problems for the police anymore."

"Hey, I don't think  _ we _ were really the real problems for the police."

Yu chuckled. "Not really, but I still remember being the one who got locked in to one of the interrogation rooms."

He heard Yosuke groan. "Don't remind me. That whole night still shows up in my nightmares. Between you getting locked up, and Nanako vanishing...the whole incident with her in the hospital...if I never had to think about that again, it'd be too soon."

"Yeah, I agree with you on that." There was a long pause, and Yu could feel his mind drifting off, but a while later, a soft comment caught his mind again.

"Hey partner?"

"Hm?"

"I..." Yosuke fell silent again, and Yu's eyes opened. Yosuke's voice didn't come back.

"Yosuke?"

There was a long pause before Yosuke replied. "I'm really glad you made it back for Golden Week."

There was something different in Yosuke's voice, Yu noticed. Nothing major, but there was a lot more feeling in those words than usual. At least, as far as he could tell. Was he reading too much into it? Maybe. God knew that he wanted there to be more. But Yu couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere in there, maybe...just maybe...he had a sliver of a chance to hold on to.

"So am I, Yosuke. I really am."

"I wish you didn't have to go back to the city."

Yu sighed softly. "I wish I didn't either."

Another long pause. "Man, this sucks so hard. I mean, I left some friends in the city when my family moved, but no one..." He coughed. "I wasn't as close to them as I am to any of the old Investigation Team. And sure, most of us are still here, but..."

Yu didn't want to finish that sentence; he wasn't sure he could without sounding like an ass. "But it's not everyone," he eventually settled on.

"It's not the same without our leader." Yosuke paused. "None of this is the same without you."

Yu could feel a frog in his throat. "Yosuke..."

"Eh, I'm babbling. I guess I'm more tired than I thought." Yu heard Yosuke shift, clearly rolling to face away from him. "G'night, partner."

"...good night, Yosuke."

If his dreams weren't sweet tonight, he didn't know what else he could do to help them along.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this has been a chapter long in coming--and not just because I took a huge hiatus. This chapter has a conversation that I knew was going to happen eventually, and had no idea how I was going to approach it. In the end, the characters had a much better handle on the situation than I did, and I think they've gotten through it perfectly well. I do love the dynamic we see.
> 
> Anywho. Enjoy!

_ Monday April 30 - Morning - Sunny _

Nanako had been thrilled to have another one of the crew over for breakfast, since Yu was pretty sure Nanako hadn't found a group of people too large to cook for yet. Conversation was light, and Dojima shooed the boys out of the door early on. "Don't look at me like that," he'd responded when Yu tried to argue. "Like I said. We'll have time to see you during the vacation. Go see your friends. Let them take priority a little bit."

There wasn't much he could do to argue against that. So they wished Nanako a good day and promised they'd be back again soon. Yosuke put his hands behind his head as they walked to grab their bikes. "So am I the only one who knows you're here?"

Yu shook his head. "Naoto knows, but that's it. She'd been the one threatening a police escort to get me back, so I figured I'd let her know she could call off the dogs."

Yosuke chuckled. "I'd say I was jealous, but honestly, I think she'd know first even if you didn't tell her. Damn detective." They hopped on their bikes and pedaled toward the shopping district. "You think she's said anything to anyone else?"

"Knowing Naoto? No." Yu tilted his head back and forth. "There's really no good way to tell everyone at once, is there."

"Hm." Yosuke thought about that, silent until they'd gotten to the bus stop and hopped off their bikes. "Well, I mean Kanji is probably going to be at the textile shop. Naoto already knows. Chie might be with Yukiko at the Amagi Inn...hm. Ah hah!" Yosuke snapped his fingers and pulled out his phone. "I've got a perfect idea."

"Oh?" Yosuke gestured for Yu to walk with him as he typed in his phone. "What's your brilliant plan?"

Yosuke pointed briefly, never taking his eyes off of the phone. "The one place I won't need to explain to anyone."

Yu followed his gaze and smiled.  _ Aiya. Of course.  _ They wouldn't have to convince Chie at all, and she'd be able to talk Yukiko into it. Knowing Kanji, an opportunity to grab some food was never off the table, and with luck Naoto would come simply because she saw through the plan.  _ Now if only Rise could be here. _ His smile shifted, remembering his trip to the concert. She'd been so happy on stage, and truly enjoying herself this time around...but there was still a strong sense of loneliness there. She really missed the group as much as he did. She just had the benefit of also enjoying what she was doing.  _ I'll have to get a picture of all of us and send it to her. She'll be with us in spirit. _

Yosuke made a triumphant sound, pocketing his phone. "Okay, they're all coming. Hah, I knew all I had to do was wave a beef bowl around and I wouldn't get any arguments. Come on, we've got to get there first." They ran to Aiya, ducking in and claiming one of the larger tables and waving over at Aika and the others--even getting a smile from the younger girl.  _ Now there's a present for coming home. _

It wasn't long before the door opened and Yu could tell just from the footsteps who had come in. "Hey there senpai, thanks for the invite." Kanji made it over and turned to sit down when he finally noticed Yu and froze. "Wh...what the...Senpai?"

"Hey Kanji." Yu gave a small smile.

Kanji grinned. "Damn, you're back for the vacation? I thought Naoto said you couldn't make it!"

"Well, I have my ways." Yu laughed. "Good to see you too, Kanji."

The taller boy slid into the seat next to Yosuke, running a hand through his hair--longer than Yu was used to seeing on him, and darker at the roots than usual--and shaking his head. "Man, is it good to see you. Shit just really isn't the same without you around."

Yosuke gestured to Kanji. "See, partner? I told you."

"I believed you." Yu couldn't stop smiling. "Trust me, the city's not much better. I'd take a bowl here at Aiya over any of the noodle shops over there."

"Well, Aiya is pretty damn good," Kanji allowed. "So you here for all of Golden Week?"

Yu nodded. "Yeah, my uncle raised an objection with my mother, and apparently he won. I didn't ask the details. I just assume my mother survived." At Kanji's shocked expression, Yu just laughed. "I'm kidding, Kanji. Dojima's my mom's brother. He got sick of her rules, came up to the city with Nanako, and fought for me to come. I don't know how he did it, but he did win."

"That's awesome." The bell jingled and Kanji waved at the door. "Hey Naoto! Come look who's here!"

The detective came up with a small smile on his lips, and Yu stood so that he could greet her with a light hug. "I had heard a rumor." There was a glint in her eye, and Yu couldn't help but grin. "It's good to see you, Narukami-kun."

Yu winked and they both sat down, Naoto across from Kanji. "It's good to be seen, Naoto."

It took a while longer for the two last members of the crew to show up, but Yu could hear Chie coming from a mile away. When the door opened, Yu saw Kanji gesture them over, but it was Yukiko who spoke first.

"Oh...oh my gosh. Narukami-kun?" Yu stood and gave Yukiko a smile, and she darted over to hug him. "It is you! Oh, what a wonderful surprise! I thought Naoto-kun had said you couldn't make it!"

"I couldn't, at first. But it looks like even my mother can't stand up to Dojima's interrogation." As Yukiko stepped back, Yu caught Chie's eye--frozen where she was when Yukiko had spoken. He swallowed.  _ Oh yeah...I guess we haven't really talked much since... _ This was an interesting dilemma.

"I...uh. Hi, Yu." Chie's face was tinged pink. "Yeah, what a surprise. I'm...wow."

"Well don't sound so excited, Chie," Yosuke quipped. "Our leader and friend's only arrived from halfway around the world, and all you can come up with is 'oh hi.' Jeez."

Chie snapped out of it enough to glare at Yosuke. "I'm just surprised, okay? Lay off." Now she looked back to him and managed a shadow of her usual smile. "It  _ is _ good to see you, Yu."

He held out an arm, and she walked in for him to half-hug her. "It's good to see you too, Chie." Even with all the conflicting emotions that having Chie, Naoto, and now Yosuke all at the same table...it was a good feeling, especially in comparison to the emptiness he'd been living with ever since getting on the train. "Now come on, everyone. Let's catch up for a bit, and then we can all get lunch. My treat." That got the resounding cheer he'd been expecting...and reminded him so much of the days from the TV world.

\--

They'd been there for at least an hour or two, and most of them had stopped eating, when Chie walked up and tugged on Yu's sleeve. "Yu, can...can we talk? Outside?"

Yu's stomach gave a vicious wrench, but he nodded. "Yeah, of course." He stood and followed her out onto the main street, where she leaned against the wall. "So...what can I do for you?"

Chie looked at him, leveling a typical glare at him. "Very funny, Yu. I'm just...it's a surprise, seeing you all of a sudden. I know Naoto-kun said that you were on house arrest back in the city. I mean, it's good to see you and all, just..."

"It's awkward. I get it." He leaned next to her. "I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up. I just hoped it would be a nice surprise for everyone."

"It was. Everyone seems really happy." A silence fell over the two of them, and Yu closed his eyes.  _ I was really hoping we'd be able to avoid all of this...  _ Chie coughed. "I'm sorry, I'm making this worse than it needs to be. I'm just...things were weird when you left."

"I know, and I'm really sorry. I know...part of that was my fault. ...A lot of that was my fault."

"No, it's..." This time Yu was the one to level his gaze at her, and she sighed. "Okay, I'll let you take that fall. I...I kinda already knew. But..." She frowned. "You cut ties...kinda with everyone. So...you didn't...I mean, you weren't..."

"You can just say it, Chie. I'm not going to be offended, and if it helps us clear all this up, I'd rather it be in the open."

Chie bit her lip. "It was Naoto...wasn't it? Back then. She was the other girl."

Yu tilted his head back and forth. "Yes and no. Naoto was...someone I was interested in at the same time, yes. And I did things I shouldn't have while we were together."

Chie's expression stilled. "Did you kiss her?"

Yu shook his head. "No. Nothing more than maybe a kiss on the cheek, but nothing I wouldn't do to any other close friend."

That seemed to relax her a little. "Did you love her?"

"I still love both of you, in many ways. But I've never loved either of you the same way." He turned to look at her. "I hated myself every moment I was with you, knowing I was hurting you, and knowing that I wasn't doing anything about it. Knowing I was still letting it happen. In the end, Naoto called everything off, as it were, before I said anything. Neither of us were happy, knowing what we were doing. It was...maybe a few weeks later that you and I spoke."

Chie crossed her arms over her chest. "I want really badly to be mad at you, but...I dunno. I can't seem to muster it up."

"Maybe it's because I'm begging for forgiveness and happen to know that you're happily involved with someone else at the moment?"

Chie's eyes widened, and she struggled for words. "I...what...I didn't..."

Yu just smiled. "Yosuke mentioned it when he visited me in the city. I'd had a hunch Kou had liked you for a while, but I never expected him to say anything. I'm happy for you, both of you."

Her face flushed, and she pulled her arms in tighter, but she couldn't completely hide the smile. "Well...thanks. Yeah, it's...I mean, it's still not anything super serious, but...." She relaxed a fraction, letting the smile ease. "Yeah, it's been good. I'm...I'm happy."

"That's all I've ever wanted for you. And I stand by what we said back then. I don't think either of us would have been happy trying to make it work long-distance."

She shook her head. "No, I agree with you. It would have been hard and awkward...I don't know. Do you think it's weird that I'm not angry?"

Yu shrugged. "It was a bad situation I put us in, but by coming through it you've ended up here. Would you change what happened in the past, if it meant not being here?"

Chie thought about that for a moment. "...No, I guess not." She tilted her head at him. "But...can I just...can I just ask..."

"You can ask me anything, Chie."

"I know you said it, kinda, but..." Now she was looking at her shoes, scuffing at the pavement. "You weren't just seeing me because...you felt bad for me or anything...were you? It wasn't all lies...?"

Yu reached over and tilted her head up, crooking a finger under her chin. "I meant every word I told you, about my feelings for you. I got caught up in myself and made stupid mistakes, and lied to you about Naoto, but I meant all the rest."

Finally, her expression seemed to relax. "I figured, but I wanted to hear you say it." She leaned in to wrap her arms around him in a gentle hug. "Besides, I bet you never thought it'd last with her either, did you."

"Not particularly. I didn't want to have to look over my shoulder constantly, waiting for Kanji to come and take out his competition." Chie laughed at that. "And I  _ did _ know that Kou liked you. I could have handled all of this better, but..."

"You know what, Yu? You were handling a lot of stuff last year. I think the fact that all you did was kinda piss off some girls is pretty impressive." She leaned back, and the cocky, confident smile he'd always loved on her was back. "At least you know you were a jerk."

"That I do." She took a step back and he put his hands into his pockets. "I appreciate how forgiving you are."

She shrugged. "Like you said. It did let me get together with Kou, so...I'll only be a little mad." Chie winked. "So, have any girls in the city stolen your heart?"

Yu chuckled. "No, not in the slightest. As much as the city might have been home once, my heart's really stuck here in Inaba." That was true on several levels.

"Aww." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, we all miss you."

"And I miss all of you," Yu replied, his voice soft. "I really do."

The door to Aiya opened suddenly, before anyone could say anything else, and Yosuke's head poked out. "Hey you two, Naoto invited us over to the estate for the night. You think you'd be up for it?"

"I'm sure all I have to do is tell my uncle, but I'm all in favor."

Chie nodded. "Sure! Sounds like fun. I've never been up there, really."

"Cool!" Yosuke grinned. "I'll tell her and we can get going."

He zipped back into Aiya, and Chie and Yu just looked at each other and laughed. "Some things really never change," Chie said with a smile.

"You're more right than you know." He set a hand on her shoulder and they both headed in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is totally unrelated, but since y'all read my stuff, I thought I'd let you know: I've published a novel of original fiction! Available at all usual book-selling places, title of Son of the Revolution by K Orion Fray. (it released today, i am utterly panicking)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am particularly proud of this chapter. ;)
> 
> I'm not telling you why.

_Saturday May 5th -- Evening -- Cloudy_

 

As it so happened, Yu didn't need to worry too much about whether or not to tell Yosuke anything--because he didn't have much time to do anything independently with anyone. Everyone wanted to have him over to their place, everyone wanted to go somewhere with him, and more often than not, the whole former Investigation Team (minus Rise and Teddie) just traveled as one big group wherever they went. It was wonderful, and it felt just like being back in the swing of things in Inaba...but he did miss the more quiet times he'd gotten to have with Yosuke when he came to visit Yu in the city.

He wanted to say something. He felt like he needed to say something. Every time he saw Naoto and had to shake his head at her inquisitive stare, he could feel her glaring at him. _I know, Naoto. I know I need to say something. But I don't know how._

He sat, eating dinner with Dojima and Nanako, all of whom were trying to forget that he'd be headed back to the city the next day, when his phone went off. Dojima glanced up at the sound, but didn't make a move to stop Yu from answering it. _He must be relaxed. He'd never let me on my phone before_ was quickly followed up with _Then again, he's not my guardian anymore_ which just made everything hurt all over again. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and opened up the text he'd received.

_yo partnr. u doin nething 2nite?_

Yu closed his eyes, willing back the wave of emotion.

"What is it, big bro?" Nanako asked, leaning to peer at the phone.

Yu shook his head. "Just a message from one of my friends. But it's my last day with all of you, and I don't..."

Dojima looked up. "You've spent time with us, Yu." He offered a small smile. "Just be back for breakfast tomorrow and we'll all have the morning together."

"Are you sure?" He looked between the two, and though Nanako didn't look thrilled, they both nodded. "I promise, I'll be home tonight and we'll all have eggs and coffee together in the morning. Okay?" He pressed a kiss against Nanako's hair, which finally got the girl to smile.

"Okay. You promised, big bro."

"I did. And I'll keep that promise." He linked pinkies with Nanako, and her smile grew back to its usual size.

_Not really. You want to do something?_

Yu didn't have to wait long for his answer.

_samegawa?_

_Of course. I'll be there soon._

He couldn't finish his food fast enough--and he still wished he could hold off on this forever.

\--

Yu had a chance to sit and watch the river for a while before Yosuke jogged over, pushing his hair out of his face. "Sorry for the wait, partner. Mom held me up and then my bike chain got all jammed or something so I came on foot."

"That bike's trouble, Yosuke." Yu smiled up at him, and Yosuke dropped down next to him. "I'm glad you made it in one piece."

"Yeah well, I'm not going to risk breaking my face off just before you have to head out." Yosuke's tone was light, but Yu could hear how hard he was pushing to keep it that way. There was a long moment of silence before his friend spoke again. "I can't believe Golden Week's almost over. It feels like you just got here."

"Yeah...it really does." Yu couldn't look at him. He focused out at the water, afraid to look over at his friend...afraid of what he'd do. Emotions weren't Yosuke's strongest suit to begin with, and Yu had way too many right now. He didn't want to toss that on him. "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to hang out more."

"What do you mean? We were together pretty much every day."

Yu leveled a gaze at Yosuke. "I mean like this. Like we were back in the city. Just you and me, like we used to do here, last year."

Yosuke took a deep breath, sighing it out slowly. "Yeah. It's okay, though. I mean, everyone was so excited to see you, it was gonna be like that anyway. Everyone wanted to have you over, see you, hang out..." He offered Yu a lopsided smile. "You're just too damn popular, Narukami.”

"So I've been told." And there were still friends from school he hadn't been able to see. Most of his time had been caught up with the old Investigation Team, save for a brief moment in Okina where he'd been able to get coffee with Ai. Someone else he'd been glad to see finding their way with someone else. How she was managing that particular relationship was beyond him, but as long as everyone was happy... "I'm still sorry."

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're here at all." Another long pause. "I wish it wasn't probably going to be summer until you get to come back again."

Yu sighed. "That's almost a given. Hopefully by then, I'll have solidified my working with Meg and she'll be able to make any excuse I have more plausible, but...after everything that it took to get me here this time, who knows what my parents will think about this summer."

"But you've got the doctor lady, right? That’s Meg, yeah? So they can't keep throwing random jobs at you."

"Well, they can, but it won't be nearly as effective. Meg's going to help make sure I can get back here after graduation."

"That...that's good." Yosuke nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's really good." Now Yosuke was the one who couldn't look at Yu. _What is going on in that mind of yours, Yosuke? What are you thinking about?_ Yu couldn't even begin to guess. "Do you ever..." Yosuke paused, then shook his head. "Nah, never mind."

"No, go ahead and ask, Yosuke."

"It's kinda depressing."

"I think I can handle it."

Yosuke stared at him for a moment, but eventually sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. "Do you ever think about, like...what happens if...something happens to one of us? Like...I don't mean just you moving back to the city. I'm talking about what if your job takes you to America or something, and you get super busy and we never see each other again."

Yu raised an eyebrow. "You weren't kidding about the depressing part."

"I'm serious, man. I mean, who knows if we're ever gonna see Rise again?" Yosuke leaned back on his hands. "She's got to be busy with her tour, and I know you went to her concert and chatted there but is that really gonna be it? I mean, we were...at least, I like to think we were pretty close friends with her. And now she's just a ghost. Or what about Naoto, off being a detective or something? I've already heard her talking about work in Tokyo. Chie's gonna be a cop, and we've seen how ridiculous that schedule can be. Yukiko will have the Inn, and Kanji will have the fabric place, and I'll have Junes, for better or worse. So do we just...drift apart? Is that what growing up is?"

"Yosuke..."

"My parents barely talk to any of their friends from school anymore. Maybe a few from college, but I think Mom's got one friend from high school left, and Dad doesn't talk to anyone he graduated with. Once we moved away from the city, they fell away from their friends out there. I don't want that to happen with us. With all of us. We were all so close back then. I don't want it to just fall away."

"Then we make sure it doesn't." Yu leaned forward, looking over at his friend. "None of that has to happen. We can all make sure of it. Besides, I'm not planning on going to America. I know that was just an example," he added, raising his hand to Yosuke's objection, "but still. I want to come back to Inaba. This is home. Being here, with you, is home."

His mind froze as the words came out of his mouth. _Oh God._ He had no idea how Yosuke might interpret that. _Please be oblivious, like you are to everything else..._

He got lucky, and Yosuke just seemed to shrug it off. "Still. Do you ever think about that? About what might happen?"

Yu swallowed, and after a moment, nodded. "In a lot of ways, that's what my Shadow always reminded me of. That eventually I was going to be all alone, and it didn't matter what I did. I spent the whole train ride wondering if I'd made the right choice, if I should have just fallen into the fog and let everything stay the same. I didn't need to leave Inaba, or go back to the city, or anything. It felt worse leaving than I could have ever imagined. And when my parents started pushing back against my coming here...it was like I could feel all of you slip away from me. I think that's why when Naoto started messaging me late at night when she couldn't sleep, I held onto that as tightly as I did. It was one thin string, but it was a lifeline back to where I knew I should have been.”

Yosuke was quiet for a long moment after that. "...I'm sorry I never really reached out much."

Yu's eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean to--"

Yosuke shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. "Nah, I didn't mean it like that. I've kinda figured out that something happened between you two, so I get why she picked you. ...Same reason all of us did, I guess."

A million words crept up Yu's throat, and none of them would come out. Every emotion he had was banging at his chest, pushing against his ribs, desperate to get out and be heard...and he couldn't speak. Could barely breathe. "I..." _What can I even say?_ "I just..."

"You were just yourself, partner. And that was all you had to do to get the school head over heels for you." He leaned back on the grass, hands behind his head.

Yu's mind was a whirlwind. _Get the school head over heels for you._ He wanted to make a joke. Wanted to make light of the insinuation like he always did. But every time he looked at his friend down on the grass, all he could envision was shifting to straddle his hips, hover above him, look deep into those honey brown eyes and lower himself close so every inch of them could press together, and then lace his fingers tight through Yosuke's hair and finally kiss the lips he'd felt a thousand times in his dreams lately. More than anything, he could feel the blood pounding through his body, desperate, needy.

How he managed to speak, he'd never know. "Ah, so this is the different confession you warned me about, that I was meant to be expecting."

It took Yosuke a moment to place what Yu was talking about--and then his face flushed, he sputtered, flailing into a sitting position again. "That's not--I didn't---dammit, partner. I didn't mean it like that and you know it."

"I do know it." Six words and his heart was in shambles. _I didn’t mean it like that._ A single look, and shift in tone, and Yu could feel himself breaking apart.

But he couldn't show it. He couldn't let Yosuke know. With the cards on the table, he had to keep his poker face and force the small smile. He wouldn't let it end like this.

Yosuke shook his head, then looked down at his watch and his eyes widened. "Oh damn, it's later than I thought it was. Uh...man, I really hate to say this, but Dad conned me into working tomorrow, and I've spent all week trying to find a replacement to cover my shift and no one's touching it. So..." Yosuke sighed, a flicker of pain in his eyes. "I'm not gonna be able to come to the station with you and Nanako and Dojima."

Yu nodded, the motion detached from himself, like he was watching a movie of his life. "I understand. It's okay."

"I'm really sorry, partner. I wanted to be there."

Movie-Yu managed a smile. "I suppose I'll survive. So I guess...I guess this is goodbye, then."

They both stood up, brushing grass from their pants. "I guess so." Yosuke's voice was soft. "At least for now. You'll be back."

"Yeah, of course. This summer, for sure." They stood, awkward, unsure of what to do next.

Finally Yosuke broke the tension. "Okay, I'll be the weirdo this time. But only because it's gonna be a while until I see you." There was a hitch of hesitation, but Yosuke stepped forward and tugged Yu into a tight, but gentle hug--one that after a beat, Yu managed to return.

"I'll cherish the memory."

Yosuke chuckled, pulling back from Yu. "Yeah, you do that, partner." He shook his head. "Lemme walk you back to Dojima's."

Yu shook his head. "It's the opposite direction from where you need to go, and it's late. You need your sleep if you're going to be dealing with post-Golden Week Junes in the morning."

Yosuke looked like he wanted to argue, but he also knew a losing battle when he saw one. "Arright, I guess you win that one." A heavy pause, and then Yosuke set a hand on Yu's shoulder. "Night, partner."

"Good night, Yosuke."

Yu waited until he couldn't see his friend anymore before he started back down the street to his uncle's.

And without making a sound, he slipped through the house and into his room, curled up on his futon, and fought to keep quiet as he fought back the sobs of his heart shattering into dust on the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your kinds words about my original novel. :3 you all are the ones who convinced me that maybe I'd be good enough to tell my own stories too. :)
> 
> A slightly happier chapter, to make up for last week! (Don't get used to it. ;) ) Enjoy!

_ Sunday May 6th -- Morning -- Rainy _

It was fitting that it had decided to rain the day he headed back to the city. In the end, Naoto was the only one of his friends who could make it to the station to see him off, along with Dojima and Nanako. The latter two said a brief but tearful goodbye, dodging the rain and trying to get home before the storm that was threatening to come. Meanwhile, Naoto dutifully stayed under an umbrella, waiting with him at the station.

"You never spoke with him." It wasn't a question.

"I spent most of the holiday talking with all of you," Yu responded, keeping his tone light.

Naoto glared over at him. "You cannot play dumb with me on this, Yu. You never mentioned it."

He sighed. "No, I..." Yu shook his head. "I couldn't. Yesterday, he..."

When his voice wouldn't come back to him, Naoto turned slightly to face him. "Go on."

"A while back, before all this, Yosuke and I had a conversation over text where I teased him about accidentally confessing to me. It was a brief moment, and nothing came of it. The last thing I'd said on the matter was asking if I should be expecting a different confession. Last night, we found ourselves in a similar situation, and I asked if this was my alternate confession." Yu swallowed, staring blankly ahead of him. "You should have seen his face, Naoto. Heard the way he sounded."

Her voice was soft when she spoke. "I've heard him before, if you remember."

"I'm not talking about the bath house, this was--"

"It's not different, Yu. As much as you think it's different, the only reason this affects you differently is because it is your heart on the line." Yu didn't have an answer to that. "The day before you leave, something like that is thrown at him. He has no time to compose himself, no time to think about his reaction...and he knows that in less than twenty-four hours, you'll be gone. We both know Yosuke well enough to know that there was no chance of him taking that seriously."

"I...I'm not sure." He took a deep breath. "He sounded so upset."

"Senpai." Naoto's voice was almost inaudible. "Please don't torment yourself about this. You must know this can't possibly go as poorly as you expect it to. I've meant everything I've said about him. He talks about you, and acts around you, differently than he does with anyone else. Even if he does not return your affection, I find it exceptionally difficult to believe that you will destroy your friendship over it."

"I hope you're right." He couldn't look at her. After a moment of silence, she tugged him a bit further under the overhang, set her umbrella to the side, and wrapped her arms around him in a firm but gentle hug. He returned the gesture easily, resting his forehead against her head. For all their pseudo-relationship before, this was about as physical as they'd ever been back then. He might have kissed her cheek once or twice, but mainly it was just lingering hugs, and the occasional kiss pressed against her hair. Anything more than that...neither of them were willing to cross that bridge. "What's this for?" he murmured after a moment.

"Courage, and strength. And to remind you that even when yours falter, you have others who will support you." She pulled back and offered a small smile. "And if you haven't spoken to him by the end of our summer break, I will be forced to say something to him myself."

Yu's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"I wouldn't recommend tempting me, Narukami-kun."

"You know I could do the exact same thing to you and Kanji."

"True, but you won't, because it will only serve to strengthen my own resolve to hold you to your end of the bargain. If you don't cross-challenge me, you can pretend to believe that I will forget. However, if my own wager is on the line, you can be assured that I will not."

"Damn, you really do know me too well." Yu chuckled and gave Naoto another quick hug--just as a low roll of thunder rippled over the air. She flinched, head snapping back to look at the sky. "I won't keep you. Get back to Yakushiji-san, and get home safe."

She nodded. "I apologize I cannot stay until the train arrives."

"Go, Naoto. I understand." He remembered how much Naoto hated thunderstorms. This one probably wouldn’t shape up to be too bad, but the rest of the month...

"Safe travels, Yu. Please let me know when you arrive back in the city."

"I will." They waved, and the detective darted out back to the black car waiting for her, and Yu watched it drive away.

_ Well, time to face the city again, I guess. I'm not looking forward to seeing how my parents are going to react to all of this. _

_ \-- _

_ Morning --> Evening _

The subways were as crowded as ever, with people coming or going from their Golden Week holidays, and it felt like an eternity before Yu finally got back to his station and out into the streets toward home, sending Naoto a quick  _ I’m back _ text. ...At least, toward one home, if he really wanted to call it that.

_ I need to try and be at least a little more optimistic.  _ Yu shook his head.  _ You're just going to get into more and more fights with your parents that way. At least pretend to not completely hate everything about your existence here.  _ Not bringing up whether or not that was actually true.

Both cars were in the driveway when he got to the house, and he sighed.  _ Great. Let's see how this goes.  _ He jogged up the steps and opened the door. "I'm home," he called, slipping out of his shoes.

"Come on in, Yu-kun," his mother's voice returned. She certainly sounded like she was in a better mood than he'd expected, and he peered around the corner into the living room of his parents' side of the house with a small frown. They were sitting on the couch, the television playing something mindless in the background. "Welcome back."

"Thank you." Yu stepped in, still frowning. "How was your Golden Week?"

His parents glanced at each other, and then back to Yu.  _ Well that's not promising.  _ "It was good. We spent much of it here, just enjoying the time to relax and unwind. Much..." His father coughed. "Much as you suggested."

Yu's eyebrows raised. "I...oh." He blinked.  _ That...was the last thing I expected to hear either of them say. _

His father sighed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "We had a chance to speak to your uncle at some length before the three of you headed to Inaba, and...it appears that we have not been entirely as understanding as we might have been. While we did know about the case in Inaba while you were there, and could have suspected that Ryotaro was involved with the investigative side of the situation, we...we did not know that you had been as closely affected by it as you had been."

Yu's throat was dry. "You never asked," he finally managed, weaker than he would have liked.

"It's true, we didn't. And perhaps that is some of our own personal bias showing through. That being said, what happened there was an aberration of the norm, and nothing we could have expected."

"Why didn't you let me tell you? I tried. I would have told you everything." Yu tried to swallow, leaning back against the wall. "My friends would go missing, and I had to try and get them back. We almost lost Nanako. The culprit was in our house constantly and we never knew. My whole year there was nothing but that case, day in and day out. It was all I could do to keep up with school, try and hold down a part time job, see my friends..." The words wouldn't stop. "And the whole time, they kept looking to me. Kept acting like I was the one who had everything under control, and I had to be. No one else was. I kept everything together, I kept my friends calm and sane. I supported Nanako on the nights, all the nights, that Uncle had to work. I stood by him as his daughter--as far as we knew--died on him, leaving him alone. I found something, a core piece of who I am out there, and you never gave me the chance to show that to you. As soon as I was back in the city, it was right back to the same old game, with you deciding my life for me and me not arguing." Yu's hands were in fists, but he was keeping his voice even. "I can't be that person anymore. I'm not that person anymore. And no, I didn't deal with it right before, and I'm sorry for that. But I didn't know what else to do."

His voice finally gave out, and his eyes refocused on his parents: his mother sitting with a hand over her mouth, his father stony-faced behind his glasses. There was a long moment of silence before either of them could speak. "Ryotaro spoke very highly of you," his mother said, almost in a whisper. "Of how well you did over the year, especially given how much was on your plate."

"I had to. It's all I could do."

His father nodded. "We have...clearly had a serious breakdown of communication, and I think there is blame on both sides for it. I do believe that's a fair assessment." He glanced over his glasses at Yu.

Yu nodded. "Yeah, that's...that's fair."

"It is true that you are getting to be of an age where you should be more independent and self-sufficient, and not as reliant on us as you have been in the past. However, I think that your year in Inaba clearly accelerated that process to a level we were not prepared to encounter." His father took a breath, his face tightening. "That being said, what you do with your future is, in the end, only your decision to make. All we ask is that you not throw away your gifts." Yu started to object, but his father held up a hand. "By that, I'm not insinuating that simply by choosing to return to Inaba is throwing away your gifts. What I mean is that while I'm sure your friend meant well, you are capable of much greater things than a management position at a chain store."

Yu couldn't help the amused quirk of his lips at that. "My goal wasn't to work at Junes, no. Though I  _ am _ sure that Yosuke's father would be more than happy to have me there."

"I'm sure," was his father's dry response. "Now..." He paused, finding the words. "I know that you have spoken to Kakihara-san. Is your working with her a decoy?"

Yu wanted to take offense at that, but if he was being honest, it wasn't an unfair question. "Not entirely. I'm really not interested in going into the more biological route, but she's agreed to help me look into psychiatric programs."

That got both of his parents to blink. "Psychiatric...?" His mother didn't seem to know what to do with that, though not in the disdainful way he'd expected. "I...that..." She coughed. "I wouldn't have expected that."

"Like I said, I spent a lot of time while I was in Inaba trying to support myself and my friends. I think that I could be good at helping people, getting to know them and their concerns, showing them the ways they can find their way out of the darkness."  _ I can help people face their Shadows, even if not so literally.  _ "There's a good program for psychology and counseling at Kumano University, which is about an hour and a half's drive from Inaba. It..." He hesitated, then pushed himself forward. "It seems like it would be a nice compromise between what we all want. I find a medical profession...and I get to go back home to my friends."

It wasn't until he saw both of his parents wince that he realized what he'd said.  _ Back home to my friends. _ He steeled himself.  _ Well...it's not wrong. _

"Indeed," his father said. "I..." There was a beat, and he took a breath. "I think this has been a great deal of information for one night. If you would, allow your mother and I to look into the university, and see what our peers think of the program. I'm familiar with Kumano, and seem to remember good things about it. If the university looks like it would provide a caliber of education we'd hope for you...then yes, I think that it might be a good compromise." His father leaned back. "Now, if you're not too tired of talking to your parents, why don't you tell us about your times in Inaba? Both before...and over your break."

Yu froze. "Really? You want to hear about Inaba?"

"We'd certainly like to hear your side of the story," his mother allowed. "If you're willing to share."

"I...yeah, of course." He pulled over a cushion to sit on. "I'll tell you all about it."


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JUST SO WE'RE IN THE OPEN ABOUT THIS: There are going to be minor Persona 5 tie-ins from this chapter on, at least for a bit. Now! You shouldn't need to worry about spoilers, as I haven't finished the game myself. I've read some wikis on what happens, but nothing in-depth about the game itself. THAT ALSO BEING SAID: if you HAVE played through all of P5, and I say something that's not possible or what have you, please remember that I haven't finished the game. Please don't post spoilers in the comments and forgive any mistakes I may make. But I just want everyone to be aware that you don't have to have played the game to get what's going on. DON'T WORRY.
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

_ Monday May 7 -- Morning -- Sunny _

 

Yu knew better than to think that the conversation with his parents the day before was actually going to solve anything. They had at least shown a little more interest in his life than he'd expected, but that was about it. If he could convince them of even half of what he did, of what he wanted to do...that would a success.

But they had said that they'd think about it. That was a victory. A small one, but a victory nonetheless.

He'd just gotten himself settled at his desk when a shadow fell over the brown top. He looked up and saw Mishima, one of the classmates he'd seen the Risette concert with. "Hey Narukami."

"H...hey, Mishima." They'd never really spoken before, and Mishima certainly hadn't ever started the conversation. He was pretty shy and reserved, especially for someone involved in sports like he was. (Had been? Yu hadn't seen any of the teams practicing, so he didn't know if Mishima still played...whatever sport he'd played.) "What's up?"

"I, uh..." Here was the nervous Mishima he'd seen more commonly before. "Do you have a minute to talk? Like, after school lets out; not now."

This was out of character. "Sure, Mishima. You want to meet me by the shoe lockers?"

"Sure, that sounds good." The boy turned and left before Yu could say anything else, burying his face in his notebook once he'd sat down, dark hair only just visible from above the cover.

_ Weird. _ Out of any of the guys he'd gone to the concert with, Mishima was the last one he expected to make contact with him again. They'd barely known each other before Yu's move. He shook his head.  _ I guess I'll just have to wait until after class to see what he wants to say. I can't exactly pretend I have plans...and really, it wouldn't hurt to make some friends here. I'll still be here for the rest of the school year. _

Besides, that would help him stop obsessing over Yosuke, and conversations that didn't happen, and reactions he couldn't guess.

_ Morning --> After School _

Yu leaned against the end of the row of lockers, phone out to send a quick message to his parents telling them he'd be meeting up with a friend after school to talk. He wasn't on house arrest anymore--thank heavens for that--but it had been agreed that Yu should at least tell them if he didn't expect to be home at his usual time, and they agreed to do the same. That seemed fair enough, especially since they did still technically share a house.

"Hey." The voice from his left made him jump a fraction. "Sorry about that." Mishima gave him a small sheepish smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Narukami."

Yu waved a hand, pocketing his phone. "I've only been here a couple of minutes; don't worry about it." He peered out the window. "It's a really nice day out."

"Yeah, it is. You want to go up to the park? I don't usually go myself, but it's way too nice a day to waste."

"Sure. Let's go."

It wasn't too much of a train ride out to the park northwest of the school, and when they got there they found a nice spot looking out on the water. Yu let a beat of silence sit between them before he tried starting the conversation. "So...you wanted to talk to me?"

"Hm? Oh...oh yeah." Mishima glanced over at him, and then looked back out over the water. "I, uh... I was doing some research on something a friend of mine mentioned the last time I talked to him, and I just found some interesting stuff." His head turned slightly back. "What was the name of the town you lived in last year?"

Now this was an interesting change of pace. "Inaba."

Mishima nodded. "Okay, I thought that's what it was. So...you were there, for everything that happened. The deaths."

Yu blew out a slow breath. "Yeah, I was there for that. Got pretty caught up in it, too. My uncle was working with the guy they arrested for it."

"There..." Mishima hesitated, and Yu could see his fingers curl into fists against the bench they were sitting on. "It glossed over a lot, but it seemed like there was some weird stuff happening outside of the murders too. The weather?"

Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, tilting his head.  _ What is he getting at? _ "Yeah, it was really foggy off and on the whole time I was there. Why?"

"Did it...change?"

"The weather?"

"No, no like...did the weather and the fog change the world around it? Create places that weren't there before?"

Now Yu was really dumbstruck. "Um..."

"I'm sorry, I know this sounds like I've totally lost my mind, but...I just...I had to see. I had to ask."

"I don't..." Yu blinked, leaning back. "I don't mind the questions, I'm just wondering...why."

"Did the world change?"

"Not necessarily the world around me, no. All the buildings stayed the same. It's...a little hard to explain, and harder to believe."

"Almost as if it were a separate world?"

There was a long moment of stunned silence before Yu leaned forward, searching out Mishima's gaze. "How do you know any of this? I know you're not getting it from the news articles."

Mishima gave him a small smile, glancing over at Yu. "There was a guy who basically took your place in class last year, a transfer after he got kicked out of his old school. It's a long story, but...I get the feeling you two might get along. But that's not really the point." Mishima waved a hand. "I just...I wanted to let you know that you weren't alone. We had some pretty weird stuff happening here too, just...less dramatic than bodies on telephone poles."

Yu shuddered. "Almost anything is less dramatic."

"Yeah, true." Mishima chuckled. "I wasn't really too directly involved in it all, but...I helped. Worked on the sidelines. Helped my friends out...gave them some clues on where to go and what they could do."

Yu had a flashback to the steps of the temple back in Inaba, and a bright yellow set of eyes peering back at him from the dark on the rooftop... "Okay."

Mishima looked over. "If you don't believe me, I understand."

"No, I completely believe you." Yu leaned back again, putting his hands behind his head. "As weird as that might be, I believe you."

"Like I said, I wish my friend was still around. He, uh...had some trouble and had to leave again." Yu could tell by the expression on Mishima's face that it wasn't a subject to be prying into. "But you two could have had some pretty interesting conversations."

"I don't doubt it." There was another pause. "So did you want something...?"

"No, just...just to tell you that you've got someone to talk to." Mishima leaned back too and smiled at Yu. "I may not know exactly what was happening in Inaba, but I've got a good background in weird stuff that no one else would believe. And I remember how tough it was for my friend to make friends at first, to settle into the feeling of the school. I know you went here before and all, but it's not hard to become an outsider again."

"I...wow. Thanks, Mishima." Something occurred to him. "You were the one who brought up my name for the ticket, weren't you?"

At that, Mishima grinned. "Yeah, that was me. I didn't know about any of the stuff in Inaba then, but I still recognized someone who needed an invitation when I saw one. Now I'm especially glad that it was you."

"You're just happy I knew Rise."

That got a laugh. "Yeah, that puzzle piece fit in for me later too. And while it was really nice to meet Risette, that wasn't what I meant and I think you knew that." Yu just smiled and nodded back. "Look, I know it's kinda weird that I just came out of the woodwork and threw all of this at you, but I wanted you to know. Even once the world goes back to normal, that doesn't mean everything you went through just fades into the back of your mind. If you ever need an ear who won't think you're nuts, I'm around."

Yu smiled, letting out a breath. "Thanks, Mishima. That really means a lot to me."

He held out a hand. "Yuuki."

"Yu." They shook hands. "You're right, it is hard going back to normal life, as it were, when you've been living anything but for the past year." He gave the young man an easy smile. "Thank you."

"No problem, Yu. Nice to know that everything that happened last year still has some use for me." Yuuki stretched out. "Man, I'm starving. You ever been to Big Bang? It's late enough in the day; we could check out their challenge burger."

"Their...wait, what?"

"Oh man, you don't know what you're missing. Come on, I'll show you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you all know up front: if the next chapter is a bit delayed, it's because I'm trying to finish P5 before I get too much further into the story here. I'm committed to keeping the story here spoiler-free, but I know that important character elements can be revealed in late game, and who's around and where. I promise, AT NO POINT will I put something in here that would be considered plot spoilers. (Or at least, I will be doing my ABSOLUTE BEST to keep them out. I hate spoilers; I don't want to ruin the game for any of you.)
> 
> That being said, they still should never be a major piece of the puzzle, since this is a P4 fic. They'll just be around at school. (And an added note for fans of my other works, you may or may not finally be seeing the cross-over in regards to a certain thunderstorm...)
> 
> ALSO ALSO. I had someone comment to me that they felt that while it's nice in fanfic, Yu's relationship with his parents is unlikely to have been fixed that quickly. I completely agree. I'm trying to style the actions around my own personal interactions with toxic and controlling relationships, both from a first and second-person point of view. Situations like this are never simple or cut and dry. I hope I didn't make it sound too much like I was washing that aside.
> 
> Enjoy!

_ Saturday May 26 -- Evening -- Thunderstorms  _

It was remarkable how much faster time went by now that Yu actually had someone talk to at school. Yuuki introduced him to a few of his other acquaintances, people who shared some of the same background in what had happened to them last year--something none of them really wanted to go into detail about, but it truly seemed to be more of an instinct than anything. Yu could appreciate that. It was strange to think about talking about the TV world or Shadows and Personas with anyone outside of the group from Inaba.

Even if it did sound a  _ lot _ like they'd been in much the same place. Weird.

Still, it was a welcome change of pace from what he'd been doing, and it let him keep his mind off of problems beyond his immediate control. Relations with his parents was still rocky, but he did notice that they seemed to be trying now, at least. His father had actually made some comment about Kumano University and their psych program, and it hadn't been entirely disparaging. It wasn't much, but Yu would take anything he could get.

A group of them were sitting at the diner in town a lot of his classmates seemed to haunt, listening to the thunderstorm rumble outside. "I hear it's worse out west from here," one of them commented, nodding out the window. (Sakamoto? Eventually he'd learn everyone's name.) "We're just getting the edges of it."

"Man, if this is the edges of the storm, I don't want to know what it's like anywhere else," Yuuki commented, leaning back in his chair. "Is it supposed to be headed our way?"

Takamaki, a girl in class with Yuuki and Yu, shrugged, flicking her hair out of her face. "I think they said it was headed past us, and we'd just get the edges. Not sure."

Yu was watching the windows. Even after all this time, after moving back to the city...there was still something about the rain that made him nervous. He knew there wasn't a reason to be, but after a year of dreading each and every rainstorm, some habits were tough to break.

Yuuki nudged him, and his attention snapped over. "You okay over there?"

"Yeah, just..." He gestured out the window. "Thinking about last year."

There was a collective murmur over the group, and no one asked any further. Sakamoto started saying something (Yu was pretty sure that was his name) but Yu missed it as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He blinked and fished it out, flicking it open to see the message.

_ From: Yosuke     DUDE HAV EMRGNCY CALL BAK WHEN U CAN _

Something on Yu's face must have given him away, because while Sakamoto was still talking about something, Takamaki leaned over to tap his arm. "Everything okay?"

"I...I'm not sure. It's a friend from Inaba. I'll be right back." She nodded and he slipped out of the booth, vanishing down the steps until he found a quiet corner to tuck into. Normally he wouldn't care if he stayed with the group for a call, but if this was something Yosuke was calling an emergency... He wasn't sure that was a conversation he wanted to be having around anyone else. He dialed Yosuke's number and waited.

_ Ring...ring...ring... _

"Dude, something is really completely wrong." Yosuke's voice was shaky, an unusual sound for him.

Yu's frown deepened. "What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"

"I don't know, partner; that's the problem. There's a huge storm here and there's something in the paper about Naoto's grandfather collapsing or something? I don't know; I don't have a copy of the paper. I just got a call from Chie, who I guess talked to Yukiko, who said that Kanji called her because he'd seen the article and couldn't get a hold of Naoto."

That was a whole series of sentences that just kept getting worse as it went. Yu knew full well that Naoto hated thunderstorms, almost as much as Chie did, if not more. He'd never asked why, but the one time they'd been together and it had stormed, she'd been half catatonic with fear. He'd kept his arms around her, never asking, never speaking, just humming softly because it was all he could think of to do. They'd never really talked about it since. And combine a storm with her grandfather having a major health scare... She had to be having an utter breakdown. And Kanji couldn't get a hold of her. That was  _ extremely _ unlike Naoto. Even when she didn't want to talk to you, she'd at least say so first, before going on complete lockdown. To just be silent... This was bad. This was very bad. He cursed under his breath, wishing for about the millionth time that he was in Inaba and not the city.

"Okay...okay. That's not good. Naoto likes storms about as much as Chie does." Just enough information to tell Yosuke jsut how bad."

"Damn. That's really not good. I texted her cell a bit ago but I haven't gotten a response. I didn't try calling."

"Okay. Um...hm." His mind was whirling. He didn't for a minute think that somehow he'd be able to magically get a hold of Naoto when no one else could; he wasn't that arrogant and they weren't  _ that _ close.  _ What can I do...? _ "Okay. I'm going to try and get a hold of her, and then I'm going to see what Kanji has to say. Just...keep me posted if you hear anything, okay? Dammit, I wish I was there."

"Wish you were too, partner. I'll tell you as soon as I hear anything."

"Thanks, Yosuke." They said their goodbyes and he hung up, tapping out a quick message to Naoto.

_ Yosuke just messaged me about your grandfather. You know where I am if you need me. _

Simple and to the point. If he was going to get in contact with her at all, it would have to be through something like that. Then he changed contacts, and sent a message to Kanji.

_ Have you gotten in touch with Naoto? _

That seemed the safest question for Kanji at the moment. Despite the fact that Naoto didn't want to see the obvious massive crush, Yu knew it was there, and if Naoto was even potentially in danger, Kanji had to be losing his mind.

Sure enough, it was only a moment later that his phone rang, Kanji's name on the display. He answered the call. "Kanji?"

He heard the younger man force a deep breath. "I can't get 'er to answer 'er phone. We got a hell of a thunderstorm here; I'm afraid we're gonna lose cell service soon. Hell, prob'ly lose power along with it."

"It's okay, Kanji. Have you tried calling her house?"

There was a beat of silence. "I don't got her house number."

"Hm." Yu pulled his phone away from his ear, tapping through his contacts list.  _ Strange. I was sure I had the number for the estate. I wonder what happened to it. _ He brought the phone back to his ear. "Damn, I don't have it saved. I swore I had it. I'm sure you can look it up somewhere, though."

"Wh--what? Why can't you look it up?"

Yu bit back an amused smile. "Because I'm not the one in Inaba, Kanji. If there  _ is _ anything wrong, she's going to need a bit more than a voice on the other end of the phone." He didn't get a response to that, but he let Kanji think for a moment. Movement in his peripheral vision made him glance up, seeing Takamaki peering at him from the corner. She tilted her head, but Yu shook his, holding up a finger. "Kanji."

"Yeah."

"If anyone can do this, it's you." Yu had to smile. He desperately hoped that nothing was wrong with Naoto, but if this was the kick in the ass Kanji needed...then he'd take it. "Make sure she's okay, and let the rest of us know, okay?"

"Y--yeah. Okay." He heard Kanji take another deep breath--and then something hitched. "Wait. How the hell'd you find out about all this?"

"Yosuke sent me a message, after he said he'd heard about an article in the paper from Chie." That was close enough to right. "Call her again, Kanji."

"R--right. Thanks, senpai." Yu heard the call go dead, and he sighed softly, pocketing his phone.

"Everything okay?" Takamaki's voice came over, soft as her steps.

Yu rolled his shoulders. "There's a pretty bad storm hitting Inaba at the moment, and one of our friends has gone completely dark. It's...well, it's not like her to be that unreachable, so they're worried something happened to her." He took a breath. "And I know that she doesn't much like thunderstorms to begin with, so I'm just hoping they're over-reacting, but..."

"Yeah, I get it." There was a moment of silence between them, and he heard her sigh softly. "You really do remind me so much of Akira some days. I wish you'd gotten a chance to meet him."

"He sounds like an interesting guy." His phone buzzed, and he tugged it out of his pocket. Chie. "One sec." Takamaki nodded, and Yu answered his phone. "Hey Chie."

"Did someone get a hold of you? Oh my god, this storm is crazy."

He could almost hear the wind behind her, and could definitely hear her voice shaking. "I believe it. And yes, Yosuke called me, and I've spoken to Kanji. As far as I know, no one's gotten a hold of Naoto yet."

"Man, Yukiko said Kanji really sounded messed up. I can't blame him. I can't even imagine. I hope she's okay."

"I hope so too." A loud clap of thunder came through over the call, and Yu's eyes widened. "Wow, you all really aren't joking. Are you okay?"

"This is awful, Yu. I mean...yeah, I'm okay I guess, but I'm all shaky and sick. I got over to Yukiko's pretty quick so we're both at the Inn just hiding from the storm. I hate this so much."

"I'm sure." His voice was soft, eyes closed. An odd parallel, both Chie and Naoto hating thunderstorms. He tried not to dwell on it. "Tell Yukiko I said hi, okay? And make her hug you extra tight for me."

That at least got a soft laugh from Chie, which was really all he was hoping for. "Okay." Another clap of thunder. "The lights are starting to flicker. I'm gonna go back to Yukiko and hide for the rest of the night."

Yu chuckled. "Sounds like a plan to me. Stay safe and dry, okay? You'll be all right."

"Thanks, Yu." Now her voice was soft. "Thanks for talking with me."

"Any time." The call clicked off and he pocketed his phone again.

Takamaki smiled. "Popular."

Yu tilted his head back and forth. "Mmm. There's a reason I'm looking into psychology and counseling, and it's not just the Shadows."

She grinned at that. "I'd believe it." She straightened out and offered Yu her hand. "C'mon, let's get back to the others."

He recognized that smile, and in just a flash, it was like looking at a cross between Rise and Ai, mashed together in an odd conglomeration...but something told him there was something deep down that linked Takamaki to at least one of them. And much like with the both of them, he knew what that smile meant.

_ Just what I need. Another confession. You can do better than me, Takamaki.  _ But he still took her hand and let her lead him back up the stairs, and tried to keep his mind in the city where he could actually be doing something, and not back home in Inaba, worrying about his friends. They'd all be okay. He'd just call and make sure of it in the morning.

That was all he could do.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that I've finished Persona 5 (and man was THAT a rush) I've been kindly notified by a couple readers--and also realized myself--that it is essentially canonically impossible for these two to happen at the same time. WHOOPS. I did say I was going to make mistakes...!
> 
> However, at least for the time being, I'm going to keep them as they are. It's never SPECIFICALLY stated when P5 takes place (though if you look at the calendar, it's not hard to figure out) so I'm going to wave my hand and pretend that it all works. Perhaps some day I'll go back and change it, but today is not that day. (And actually, I'm already working on a story which could easily be Yu from this type of time line interacting with a P5 cast member at appropriate time distance...)
> 
> In any event, thank you readers for telling me I was wrong. I am going to continue to be wrong. Please forgive me. <3 (also for Thunderstorm fans, this is going to be a very familiar chapter.) Forgive your sick author, my brain is fried.
> 
> Enjoy~!

_Sunday May 27 -- Afternoon -- Cloudy_

It had been a strangely silent night after Yosuke's call, and the flurry of activity after that. Yu still hadn't heard back from Kanji, though that didn't surprise him. Even if he'd gotten everything taken care of, until the moment he knew everything was going to be okay, there was no chance he was thinking about anything other than the detective.

_I really hope she sees that eventually. I think they'd be good for each other._

He managed to wait until just about noon before texting Kanji again. _I assume she's home safe. :)_  Even if he was going to doubt what had happened, there was no way he'd say anything else to Kanji. He'd rather Kanji have to correct him, then let him believe that Yu thought anything might have happened.

It was a moment or two before the response came.  _Yeah, headed home. Thanks for pushing. Can you tell your uncle she's okay? I forgot to tell him._

Yu grinned and sent back a quick "okay" before dialing his uncle.

"Dojima residence." His uncle's voice was rough.

"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't wake you, Uncle. It's Yu."

"Ah, no you didn't wake me. Just having some trouble getting up and going today. What can I do for you?"

"Kanji Tatsumi asked me to let you know that Naoto got home safely."

"Ahhh, I did wonder what had happened. I was assuming that no news was probably good news, but it's still good to hear. Huh. Do you know what happened?"

"No, not really. I know there was a storm and everyone panicked, but that's about it."

"Mmm, that's about the best I have too." Dojima sighed. "Well, at least it's taken care of now. Tatsumi confused the hell out of me, calling here for her number."

Yu chuckled. "I'll apologize for at least a portion of that. I was the one who told him to look for her number. I don't have it saved in my phone, for some reason."

"Ah, well I'll put the blame firmly on you then." The man gave a soft chuckle. "Okay, well I've got to take Nanako out for the day; I promised her a trip to Junes. Should I pass along a hello?"

"Yes please, and an extra hug. I miss you both."

"We miss you too, kid. Talk again soon."

They said their goodbyes and Yu hung up just in time for his phone to go off again. _It really does start to feel like last year all over again, with how much I've been on my phone lately..._

He checked the message and got a small smile.

_U FREE?_

Naoto home safe indeed, and texting just like normal. He settled himself on his couch and pressed the callback button. She answered after just a few rings. “I suppose it's my turn to not trust my voice.”

And Yu could see why. It was clear she'd obviously been far worse recently, but her voice was still wavering more than he'd heard in a very long time. “I think I can manage. What happened? Are you alright?"

There was a pause before she took a shuddering breath and he heard the tears start to come. Her voice broke at every breath. “I...I don't know. Grampa's in the h-hospital and n-no one knows what's w-wrong and the d-doctors are still just trying to d-do tests. He's unconscious a-and unresponsive and it's l-like watching Nanako-chan all o-over again and all I c-can do is watch and w-wait and I know the l-longer he stays unconscious the m-more brain damage could o-occur and I just d-don't know what to do. And there w-was a huge s-storm last night and I h-hate storms because my p-parents died in a thunderstorm and the p-power went out and I c-can't deal with all of this.”

Yu's heart broke for her. He could only imagine what scenarios her brain had concocted--because out of all of them, she was one of the best to come up with the most dramatic worst-case-scenarios. And with how close she was with her grandfather... It was a disaster. Yosuke hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said it was an emergency, and he didn't even know the half of it. He waited until her gasps had slowed a bit before responding. "Then we deal with it one step at a time. We can't change the storm, right? It's over and done, and maybe Inaba won't get about for a while. Right?"

"Y-yes."

"And if this really is like Nanako's case, then you know there is nothing you can do, and making yourself panic and fall apart about it isn't going to help. Right?"

"B-but..."

"Naoto. Nanako got a miracle. Pray for one for your grandfather too."

He could hear her sniff. "I'm n-not really one to put f-faith in miracles."

Yu breathed out a laugh. "You don't need to. Just got to the shrine when you can and ask. It's all you can do. What your grandfather wakes up, he'll need you calm and collected to help him, right?"

"R-right."

"Then you can start now. Take a deep breath." He heard her draw in a breath as best she could. "Let it go." She breathed out, her throat hitching on a cough. "Close enough. So. What happened last night? Did you have to stay in the estate on your own? Where was Yakushiji-san?"

"W-with Grampa. And n-no, I..." There was a pause. "Kanji-kun came and got me."

Yu blinked. _Came and got her?_ The estate was nowhere near Tatsumi Textiles, and from what he'd heard, that was no minimal storm and Kanji didn't drive. "Kanji? Didn't you say it was storming? Or was this after the storm had died down?"

"No, it was storming. H-he tried to call my cell phone, but it was off so I didn't answer and I guess he found my house phone from your uncle and he called there, but then the power went off and... I don't know, I suppose he decided to come to the estate personally."

Yu had to bite back the laughter hard, keeping his voice level. "...Through a thunderstorm. From the textile shop to the estate."

"Yu..."

"Then what happened?" This story was getting better by the second.

He heard her cough out a half-hearted laugh. "I had a nervous breakdown and he brought me back to the shop."

Yu leaned back in his seat, tilting his head. "...how?"

"He carried me." Yu put a hand over his mouth, biting back the smile even though she couldn't see him. "Not exactly my most dignified moment."

He moved his hand enough to speak. "Through the thunderstorm."

"He's fallen ill. I feel terrible about it."

 _Naoto, you're playing dumb with me._  He shifted the phone to crook between his other ear and shoulder. "I know this isn't likely what you want to hear, Naoto, but I'm fairly certain this is evidence even you can't dispute about what we've all been saying about Kanji."

He heard her sigh. "I told you I'd ask to talk to you about this later. Apparently now is that later." A pause, and he could hear the gears turning in her head. "Seeing emotions that are not mine aside for the time being."

"Naoto." She wasn't really still going to do this, was she?

"I'm serious, and I have a legitimate reasoning. Hear me out."

"I'm sure you think it's legitimate," he muttered under his breath, but he was fairly certain she didn't hear him.

"I am in no position to parse out Kanji Tatsumi's mind, in regard to myself or anyone else. What I can do is attempt to understand my own, no matter how difficult it decides to make that for me."

"Okay, okay." Yu flopped onto his back on the couch. "So. Last time I asked you about Kanji, you said you didn't know what to say, because it was complicated. What's changed now?"

"I..." There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "I have never... You know as well as any that matters of the heart are not something I...actively seek out. They are inconsistent, troublesome, and as far from rational as a matter can be. Before..." Another pause, and Yu could hear the words she wasn't going to say. "Before last year, I had not considered anyone I knew in a romantic matter. It was not something I wanted, nor something I understood in others. Particularly while living under a male guise, it was impractical to consider anyone's affections as honest, as they did not know who I truly was."

"Yes." She wasn't answering him, and if she thought he was going to forget, she was sorely mistaken.

"But..." She coughed as her voice hitched. "As knowledge of my true sex has spread, it is no longer reasonable to use that excuse. And after...last year, and meeting all of you, I am learning to come to terms with all the facets I have...whether I like them or not."

Now he couldn't fight back the grin. "You are very neatly avoiding my question, Detective Shirogane."

"I don't under _stand_ , Yu." She sighed. "He ran easily two miles if not further in a torrential downpour, not knowing what he could find when he arrived. Then, ran the same two miles back _carrying another person._  He gave me the blanket from his futon in his room, opting for a smaller one for himself just so that I could keep warm. Moved to sleep on the opposite end of the living space from me, rather than in his own room, so that I wouldn't feel alone in the house. He's caught a cold and is running a fever all because he did all this--and somehow, he did it for me, a person who has barely acknowledged him in the past two months, and did little more in the year prior."

Oh, now the grin was wide. "I thought we weren't analyzing Kanji."

"It _hurts._ " That was about as close to whining as he'd ever heard her. In spite of the amusement he was getting, he did still feel for her. This was a whole new battlefield for Naoto, and their sporadic semi-relationship wasn't doing anything to help her handle the situation now. "My grandfather is in the hospital from a potentially fatal accident, and I _didn't want to leave._  I felt sick, knowing that he had fallen ill because of me. I still don't know why I haven't gone back, other than I don't want to disrupt his rest. It gets harder to breathe around him and I don't know why. I have the smell of sandalwood stuck in the back of my mind because something on his blanket smelled like that and I can't figure out what or why. It's like having the most fascinating case of my life standing right in front of me and I don't...know how to start working it." She stopped, and Yu didn't move to fill the silence. She was on a roll, and he knew that if he spoke now, he'd never get the rest out of her.

Sure enough, she spoke again. "I had a dream last night."

Yu raised an eyebrow. "Do you not usually dream?"

"Not like this." She groaned. "I can't even think about it. I relive it over and over."

Yu's eyebrows rose higher and higher. "Is this...not a dream you can tell me about?"

There was a long pause. "It...ah. It was...intimate."

Yu blinked several times, rubbing at his eyes. "...um."

"N--not sexual," she quickly added. "Just... I must have been cold, and it translated into my dream, and so Kanji--i-in the dream, Kanji-kun came over and o-offered to help. K-keep me warm."

It took a moment for that to really sink in on Yu. _She had a dream...where they were cuddling? Spooning? I'm not...seeing...well, this is Naoto._  He coughed. "Naoto, I think you're one of the only people I know who would consider a dream about cuddling to be intimate."

"Yu--!"

"I'm just saying."

"He..." There was another pause. "He did kiss my neck."

"In the dream." He almost couldn't believe he was having this conversation.

"Y-yes."

"And that's it."

"Yes, at that point I woke up. Kanji-kun was still asleep on the far side of the room." Yu didn't even know where to begin with that. Naoto was literally the only person he could think of who would describe a dream like that, about someone she knew relatively well, and still manage to think it was reasonable to keep using honorifics for him. He let her pick up the conversation again when she was ready.

"This..." She sighed. "This doesn't feel like before. Like last year."

Yu shook his head. _Of course it doesn't._  "Last year had a lot of other circumstances weighing on it, not the least of which being that it wasn't ever going to be permanent and you knew it." He couldn't help how low his voice got, how soft and hoarse he sounded. For all the confusion in his love life, the tiny bits he'd shared with Naoto were always going to have a special place in his heart. _Naoto_  always would. "And it was in the middle of most of your personal upheaval, dealing with the case and Nanako and being outed as a girl and all. You had a lot more on your mind then than you do now."

"I don't know what it is." Her voice had dropped too, just barely audible over the phone. "I don't know what to do about it."

"You could try talking to him about it."

She barked out a sudden laugh. "Don't be ridiculous. Kanji-kun and I can barely hold a conversation about the weather, let alone something like this."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Naoto, you have a limited set of options here. One, is ignore anything you might feel and continue on with life and never find out what it is, and know somewhere in the back of your highly intelligent brain that it's quite possible that Kanji's going through the same thing as you are. Two, is be up front with him and tell him what you may be feeling, and let the chips fall as they may."

Another pause. "I'm not fond of either option."

Yu breathed out a smile. "Then option number three is to just spend more time with him. Have lunch together at school. Go see a movie in Okina. Get coffee somewhere. Ask him to teach you to knit, I don't know. See if the feeling goes anywhere, changes, anything. Just see what happens. Call it investigating, if it helps. This doesn't need to start with a full-blown confession of love, Naoto. Just try to be his friends, and see what happens." He sighed. "If nothing else, you know he cares about you, one way or another. I'm not even sure I would have run through a thunderstorm for you." That was patently false; he knew full well that he'd risk any storm for his friends. But that wasn't the point of the message.

He could finally hear a smile work its way into her voice. "Oh, thank you so very much, Narukami-kun." A sigh, and her voice softened again. "What do you think of all this?"

"Hm? Are we analyzing Kanji now?"

"I'm asking for your opinion, Yu. I'm certain you know him better than I do."

 _That's probably true._  Kanji didn't let many people get close to him, always playing his cards close to the chest. _Doesn't remind me of anyone else..._  He took a breath, and blew it out. "I think you confuse the hell out of Kanji. I think he wants to be friends with you, but has no clue how to get close to you because you're so reserved and he still worries about rejection. And I think the fact that he finds you attractive makes all of that exponentially harder."

"H-he has never said a-anything--"

 _Really, Naoto? Come on, you're more observant than_ **that.** "Do you remember the beauty pageant?"

Her voice was dry. "I truly wish I didn't."

"Do you remember Kanji insisting that you enter?"

There was a long pause. "Doubts," she finally responded. "He wanted me to be in the pageant to clear up doubts he had."

"Like you said last month. You confuse people's sexualities." Naoto groaned, and all Yu could do was laugh. "I'm being serious! I was there with him. And though I think we were all sad you didn't come out in a bathing suit, I do remember him commenting on your bravery for going through with the first half at all."

She paused before she responded, half in a murmur. "He called me intimidating."

 _Now I'd love to hear the conversation that led to that comment._  "And he's right. You're confident, you're smart, and you're incredibly self-assured. At least, that's what you show others. And yes, that's very intimidating. When everyone else is just as lost on the inside as you, they don't know what to do around someone who doesn't ever look lost. So they're afraid of the person, because humans fear what they don't understand." Naoto didn't answer right away, and he glanced into his house, and noticed the time. _I should eat something._  Flashing through what little he had to pick from in his kitchen, an idea dawned. "Make him some miso."

A pause. "W-what?"

"You said you felt bad that Kanji got sick after running through the rain to get you. Make him some miso or udon or something. That's always good for sick people, particularly if he does have a cold."

"I've never made either of those."

 _Somehow, I'm not surprised._  "Thousand yen says you can find a recipe online in about four seconds. I think--what?" He cut himself off as he heard a sharp yelp from her end of the line.

"Sorry," she returned after a beat. "My phone...vibrated. I probably received a message in return from one of the others. I had several messages waiting for me when I came home."

Yu chuckled. _I'm sure you did._  "I bet that was more than a little disconcerting."

"That's one word for it. Hold on." He heard tapping at the screen.

"Who's it from?" he called, trying to make himself audible from wherever she was holding the phone.

"Kanji-kun." More tapping, and pause, and then tapping again. Yu was grinning to himself by the time she returned to the call. "I hope you're quite proud. I asked if he wanted anything."

"It's a step. Do you want me to let you do, in case he texts you desperate for homemade Shirogane cooking and you have to rush off to comply?"

"I hate you." That got Yu outright laughing. "Not...not until he actually responds. If he does." Another soft groan. "How do people manage this? There is absolutely nothing predictable or solid about the entire situation. It's guesswork and wishful thinking."

 _I hear you on that all too well._  "It's faith. And it's hard, yeah. But when it works? It's worth it." He still wasn't sure he'd truly see what it was like, having it really work, but just from what he knew, it had to be.

"Has it been worth it for you yet?" He should have seen that question coming.

"Uh-uh, you're not getting me off track that easily. Today is about you and everyone's favorite delinquent. Besides, there hasn't been much time for anything to happen. You know how hectic Golden Week ended up being." He wasn't going to bring up the fact that cell phones were a thing and he could have just texted Yosuke, but...this was still something Yu felt needed to be said in person. Which of course, made it that much more terrifying.

"I suppose. I do expect you'll let me know once something is said, yes?"

As if there was someone else he'd tell. "Same to you." An odd buzzing sound came through on the call and Yu's brows furrowed. "What...oh, was that your phone buzzing? Wow, that's a really weird sound."

"Yes, it was." Another long pause, and tapping as she replied. "In classic fashion," she continued after the tapping had stopped, "I received a complete non-answer. Essentially, he's said that I've just been there and thus a second trip seems out of the way, but as I mentioned I was headed to the shrine, it seems reasonable enough. As such, if I wish to drop by, he assures me he'll be there, so the choice is mine."

Yu ran through through Naoto-to-Normal translation: _Sure, though I mean you were just here, but if you're going to the shrine... Up to you. I'll be here._ That sounded more like Kanji. "Except I'm guessing he used half the words."

"Text messaging is no place to be hung up on proper sentences. It's a method for transmitting messages quickly and succinctly. As long as the other party understand what you mean, then the task is accomplished."

Yu saw more than enough of that between her and Yosuke, though at least Naoto usually came close to spelling most of her words right. "Mm. Well, I'm going to leave you to your planning, then. I have a few more things to accomplish before figuring out what I'm eating for lunch." He sat up, leaning his elbows onto his knees, tone serious. "If you need anything, Naoto... You know you can call any of us, right? I'm more limited in what I can do, but I'll do all I can."

He could almost hear the tiny smile. "I know you will. And I know I can contact any of you. Thank you." There was a beat before she continued. "I do think I forget sometimes, but I shall keep the memory of all those messages waiting for me as a reminder that I am not as alone as it seems sometimes."

"That's all you can do. Even when you feel like you've lost everything, you will never again be abandoned or alone." He could almost hear the last person who'd said that to him in the back of his mind. _Now there's something I haven't thought about in a while._

"Thank you, Yu. I'll let you get back to your day. Thank you for speaking with me."

"Any time, Naoto. Take care."

"You as well." He tapped the call off and sighed, setting his phone to the side. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Naoto was on to something. He was stalling.

He needed to figure out how to talk to Yosuke. Sooner rather than later, because he didn't think Naoto was going to let him wait until summer.


	19. Chapter 19

_Friday June 15th -- Evening -- Clear_

He wanted to wait. He wanted to wait until he could see him, until summer break, until he could look in those eyes and know exactly what the other boy was feeling. He wanted to.

But he couldn't. It was driving him nuts--and now other people were starting to see it.

"Narukami, are you okay?" Takamaki glanced over at him from where they were sitting in the park.

Yu looked over at her. "Hm? I'm sorry, I got a little lost there."

"I've noticed." She gave him a soft smile. "Someone on your mind?"

"Is it that obvious?" He laughed half-heartedly, leaning back against the pole behind him.

"Only because you look about how I feel." She fiddled with one of her twin-tails. They'd spent some time chatting about Akira and what had happened the past year with the Phantom Thieves and whatnot, and he'd given what insight he could from all that had happened in the TV world. They'd both essentially said that both were likely facets of the same place, and that they didn't want to have anything to do with it again. She'd been interested in the multiple entry points they'd had in each of the TVs, and had asked several questions about how people could get in and out that way. He hadn't had many answers, which seemed to distress her, but when he asked why she wanted to know, she just waved him off. He learned not to question.

But the fact had remained that while Akira had been here, he and Ann had grown very close, and she was taking his absence hard. Yu could sympathize with that.

"Have you heard anything from him?" Yu glanced over at her.

She shook her head. "Not lately. A few texts here and there, but I get the feeling he's working pretty hard at keeping his head down at school. It's been a little rough for him, given his record."

Yu nodded. "I can feel for him."

"So you've never told me. I'm guessing you left someone special behind too?"

He breathed out a half laugh. "Something like that. Not someone who knows it, though."

"Oooh, a secret love." Ann giggled and Yu had to smile. "Can you share?"

"I..." He sighed. "It's a little complicated."

"Okay?" She tilted her head. "Like...was it a teacher? Or too young, too old?"

He shook his head. "No, it's a classmate of mine. Very good friend."

She peered at him for a moment. "You don't exactly strike me as the type to hold off on confessing just so that you don't ruin a friendship."

"Mmmm..." Yu tilted his head back and forth. "Yes and no."

Ann opened her mouth to say something and then seemed to catch herself. "Oh. Wait. ...oh, now I think I know what you mean."

He gave a half-smile. "I'm not sure a confession would go over well."

"I'm so sorry, Yu-kun." She slid to sit next to him. "Has he said anything about it?"

 _She did get it. Well-spotted, Ann-chan._ "Not explicitly, but...well, there was a moment in the--in the Metaverse where we got presented with a pretty vivid stereotype, and we never heard anything else out of him the entire trip. And any time it came up afterward."

She pulled a face. "That sucks. Have you had a chance to talk with anyone else about it?"

"A few. At least one mutual friend knows the whole story, and she's convinced nothing will go wrong, but I'm not sold. Another knows the what but not the who." He rolled his shoulders. "And now you. Honestly I don't know what to make of any of it. It's...well, it's not my first relationship, but it's..."

"The first guy," she added softly, and Yu nodded. "I get it."

"Naoto--the friend who knows the full story--she keeps telling me that I need to talk to him, but I don't know how to even go about it."

"Honestly? I'd guess you'd talk to him the same way you'd talk to anyone else. Did you ever confess to someone back there?"

Yu thought about it. Obviously anything that had happened between him and Naoto wasn't going to count. But...was this something he really wanted to talk to Chie about? Of course, it wouldn't make any difference once Yu had actually buckled down and said something, no matter what Yosuke said. If he agreed (in the unlikely event that he did) then it would come out in, reasonably, day to day life. And if Yosuke turned him down...well, there was no doubt in Yu's mind that it wasn't going to stay secret and besides, someone would ask eventually why they weren't speaking to one another any more.

"I...I didn't so much confess, but I did have someone confess to me."

"So at least you know how it's done." Ann smiled. "Maybe you could talk with whoever you know back there and scope it out a little. I mean, if you're mutual friends, they should have a good idea about the situation, right?"

 _Yeah, and they'll be able to tell me even more reasons why I shouldn't say a word to him._ How Naoto thought this was going to go well was beyond him.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's a weird situation."

"I can imagine." She set a hand on his arm. "Just know that you've got friends here to support you too, no matter what happens, okay?"

Yu smiled. "Thanks, Ann-chan."

"No problem." She stood. "Come on, let's get back to the station."

* * *

Yu sat in his house again, staring at his phone. Either he needed to call Yosuke and just get it over with, or he needed to call Chie and see what her thoughts on the matter were. Neither really sounded like fun, but out of all of their friends, he'd be the most concerned about her reaction. Naoto already knew, Kanji...probably wouldn't be surprised, honestly. Yukiko wouldn't care as long as everyone was happy. Rise already knew a little, though if she knew who it was, she'd just be even more excited. Relationships between friends were Rise's favorite pastime.

He didn't even want to think about telling his parents. That was a whole level of mess he wasn't willing to deal with. He had enough fights with them about going to college and visiting Inaba. Trying to convince them that he wanted to be in a relationship with another guy? Not going to happen.

This was just going to be a fun year all the way around.

He dialed and put the phone to his ear. _Ring...ring...ring..._

"Hey Yu," Chie's voice came back. "That's not a name I expected to see on my caller ID."

He chuckled. "I live to surprise." She laughed in return at that. "Listen, I've got something serious that I need to talk with someone about, and I think you're probably my best choice."

There was a pause. "Oh, wow. Okay. Um. One sec." He could hear her walking through the house, and then a door shut--likely into her room. "Okay, serious talk. Is something wrong?"

"I...no, not really. It's more of a...complicated situation."

"Okay, shoot. What's up?"

"I've got really strong feelings for someone back in Inaba."

A beat, and then she sounded amused. "If you're just trying to re-confess to me, it's not going to work."

Yu breathed out a laugh. "No, I love you dearly, Chie, but it's not you." He took a breath. "No, it's...ugh." He blew the breath out. "This is a stupid idea."

"Well, if it's not me, is it Naoto?"

"No, not her either."

Chie paused. "Okay, well this raises a couple concerns, but we'll get back to that. Am I the best option because I'm Yukiko's best friend?"

"I'm no fool to try and take the Amagi Challenge, let alone after she's found a boyfriend. No."

There was a long pause, and Yu could almost hear the moment when the light blinked on. "Oh."

"Yeah."

Another pause. "So why am I the best person to talk to?"

"Because you know both of us pretty well, and you've dated me before. And I know I can completely trust you to be honest with me, no matter how blunt it's going to be."

Chie chuckled. "Okay, that's fair." Yu could hear her sigh. "Yu, I just...putting who it is aside, I just need to ask if you're really absolutely certain about this. Because this is person three, and it's kinda iffy given that one and two didn't stick."

"I know. I know it looks awful, and I'm just jumping from person to person." He buried his face in his hand. "And I can come up with a thousand excuses for why the others didn't work and why I'm at where I'm at, but..." He huffed out a breath. "It's just going to be excuses."

"Well at least you know that." Yu could hear her lean back. "I mean, I have to guess you're pretty certain about this if you're actually talking about trying to confess to Yosuke. That is who we're talking about, right?"

"Yeah. It's...I think I've known for a while now, and I just can't...say anything. Any time anything even close comes up, he turns into him from the bathhouse."

"I can imagine." She sighed. "Well, I guess that'd be a good reason why none of the other relationships you had here worked out."

"Chie." He just heard her laugh. "The fact that I like him doesn't mean that I didn't like you."

"No, but we were all around at the same time. If you really like him, this has been around for a while. That might have affected the way you were thinking about everyone else, even if you didn't know about it."

Yu thought about that. "...huh. That's...I hadn't thought about that."

"I can be smart sometimes." He could hear the grin on her face. "But okay. So you like Yosuke."

"...yeah." It sounded so strange, coming from her mouth. There was a long enough pause that Yu started to wonder if she'd hung up. "Chie?"

"I'm just imagining. I dunno, I think you two could be a cute couple."

"Chie, there is literally no way he's going to accept this. I can't say anything to him; he'll stop talking to me."

"Eh, I don't know about that."

Yu sighed. "That's what everyone seems to say."

"Everyone? Wait, who have you told this to?"

"Naoto is the only one who has the whole story other than you. Rise knows pieces."

Chie paused. "Huh. I'm surprised Rise hasn't said anything."

"Honestly, I'm a little surprised as well." Yu coughed. "But Naoto said the same thing, and I just...I can't see it. It seems like it goes against everything he usually is."

"Yu, here's the thing though. Kanji's not his best friend." She let that sit for a moment. "You're the one Yosuke really connected with, and I mean, I've seen him from before you came around. You're his partner. I mean, you've got all these concerns about liking a guy. Maybe he's the same, and he's just afraid that everyone's going to judge him if he ends up dating a guy."

"I don't want to cause him trouble." Yu's voice was soft.

"Oh my god, Narukami. One, Yosuke Hanamura can stand up for himself if somebody decides to give him shit for anything. Two, he's gonna have me and Yukiko and Kanji and Naoto all here to back him up. No one's going to give him shit without facing the consequences."

Yu sighed. "You'd think that I'd be more convinced after everyone I talk to seems to think this isn't as big a deal as I feel like it is."

"Maybe that's because we're smart and you're not."

Yu snorted. "Okay, thanks so much."

Chie laughed. "That's the tone I was trying to get out of you." She paused a little. "Don't worry so much about it, Yu. Just talk to him. I give you full permission to punch me as hard as you can the next time you see me if it goes badly."

He sighed, but he couldn't help the smile. "Okay, okay. I suppose that's incentive enough for me."

"Good to hear it. Now don't just dick around and pretend like you're going to do something. Call him. I guarantee that he's not doing anything right now."

"You're pushy, you know that?"

"It's my most endearing quality, according to Kou."

"Well, good for Kou then." She laughed. "I'll talk to you later, Chie."

"See ya, Yu. Good luck."

"Thanks."

He hung up the phone and stared at the screen. He didn't have any more excuses. He could say that he wanted to hold out until he could do this in person all he wanted, but now too many people knew. There was no way he'd get away with silence until summer, even if it was in just over a month or so.

 _God...how do I even start..._ He grabbed his coat, feet going before his mind had caught up. Opening the door, he called back to his parents, "I'm going to visit the shrine quickly before heading to bed. I'll be back soon."

"Be careful," he heard his mother call back as he slipped out the door. There was a shrine not too far from his house, and he found his way to the offering box without even looking.

_I don't know what to ask for, but I could almost hear the fox calling me here. I wish I could go to Tatsuhime for this, but...this will have to do. I don't know who's listening or what to say, but... I'm laying everything on the line here. Please...just don't let me lose him. If he says yes or no, I'll live either way, just...don't let me lose him for good._

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a deep breath.

_To: Yosuke         Hey, are you free to talk for a bit?_

It felt like hours before the response came.

_yah 1sec n ill call. u ok?_

He closed his eyes.

_Yeah, just want to talk serious for a bit._

 

 

His phone rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for nothing.


	20. Chapter 20

_Friday June 15th -- Night -- Clear_

It took every ounce of courage he had in him to answer the call. "Hey Yosuke."

"Hey there, partner." Yosuke's voice was, understandably, concerned. "You sure you're okay? Serious talk isn't usually what you call about. Is it your parents again?"

"No...no, it's not them. It's...god. Okay. I have no idea how to say any of this, so just...just bear with me, all right? Just...let me get to the end of it and I swear, I'll answer any question you want to ask me."

There was a long pause, but a guarded response came back. "Sure thing. I'm listening."

And Yu couldn't speak. _How do I even start? Where do I begin to make any sense out of this? God, I'm going to lose my mind..._  He fell to sit on the steps of the shrine. "I..." He blew out a breath. "I've had a lot of time to think while I've been back in the city. Thinking back on everything that happened, and all that we all went through...what it meant to be in Inaba, with all of you. It's hard to see all of that when you're right up close, but from here it's been good to look back and really see how I feel about it all, now that I've been away for a bit."

Yosuke made a soft sound of agreement, but true to his word, didn't speak.

"And...it's made me realize a lot of things. Like that a relationship between Chie and I probably wasn't going to work long term even if I hadn't left. That while she's probably one of my closest friends back there, a relationship with Naoto was never on the cards. That I was a real idiot about the people around me at times, and I don't know how I got through the rest of the times." Yosuke chuckled at that. "And I've always known, kinda, since I left that I wanted to come back. That I really thought of Inaba as home now, instead of the city. But I'm not sure I ever really knew why."

He took another breath. "I always just said it was because of all of you. Because of the friends I'd made, because of the memories we shared, because of all of that. There was a closeness there that I hadn't had anywhere else before. But...but that's not really all of it. And I've..." Yu coughed. "I've said pieces of this before, but I've never really taken all those pieces together and looked at what they were saying as a whole. There's one real driving reason that I want to be back in Inaba. One focal point that summarizes everything..." He bit back his pride and kept going. "Everything that I want from and love about that place. Something that's been staring me in the face for a while now. ...Someone."

Yu's voice failed him, and somehow, Yosuke still didn't interject. Yu could only barely hear his partner breathing on the other end of the line.

It was a good chunk of time before Yu found his words again. "You. It's you, and it's always been you. I...I really...like you. More than just friends, more than even as close of friends as we've been. I mean, I've known bits since I left. It was always hard to leave everyone, and you were my closest friend there. It hurt to be gone suddenly. But...the more time went by, the more I started to think that it wasn't just me missing my friend." Another breath. "And then you showed up on my doorstep, and it was like the whole world went back to normal again. Like...I could breathe again. I don't really know how I got through all this time before I had you in my life, but I'm...I'm not sure I really want to go back to that. And I know..." Yu swallowed. "I know that this is probably the last thing you possibly want to hear from me, and I've just dumped a huge about in your lap and I completely understand if you want to tell me to just screw off because I know this is a weird subject, but I...I couldn't not tell you anymore. I needed to say something. I just...I hope..." He floundered in silence for a moment, Yosuke still not speaking. "I just hope if nothing else we can still be friends. I don't...I don't want to lose that."

The silence made Yu sick. It felt like hours. "Come on, Yosuke. Say something. Please. Anything."

Another pause, and then Yosuke cleared his throat. "Just making sure you were done." His voice was different, and Yu couldn't tell what the sound was. It wasn't a usual sound for his friend, and that in and of itself terrified him. "I...um. Okay."

"I'm sorry, Yosuke. I wanted to tell you this in person but I just...I..."

"No, it's..." He coughed again. "It's...fine. It's okay."

_Oh god, it's not okay. Just listen to him._  Yu could feel himself sinking into the stones he was sitting on. _I've just made a terrible mistake._  "I...okay." He didn't know what else to say.

There was another long pause. "Um, so...I've..." He could hear Yosuke swallow. "I've gotta go."

Yu's stomach sank. "Yosuke, if it what I said..."

"No, no." His voice was quick. Too quick. "Just, Mom needs me to take care of something before I go to bed, and I've gotta finish this one assignment before my teachers kill me. It's not..." He coughed. "Don't worry, Yu. Just...lemme think for a bit, okay? That...that was a lot."

"Yeah. Of course." _He just needs time to think._ _ **Time to think of how he's going to reject you and run as far from you as he possibly can.**_ _Oh come on, now you're just being mean to yourself._  "Take all the time you need, man. You...you know where to find me."

"Yeah." A long pause. "Okay. Um. I'll talk to you later, Yu. Okay?"

"Sure thing, Yosuke." The line went dead in his hand.

_He didn't call me partner._  Yu wasn't entirely sure why that was the piece of that conversation he was holding on to, but it was all he could manage. _He hadn't called me partner._  It was almost weird. Yosuke so rarely ever used Yu's name, that it was almost like he didn't have a name to Yosuke. He was just "partner."

Until tonight.

It took a while for Yu to realize he was shaking. The ambiguity of the conversation was almost worse than an outright denial. He stared at his phone. He needed to talk to someone. Anyone. Needed to get this out of his head. Needed someone to knock him out of the funk. And luckily, he knew someone who excelled at just that.

Now to see if they were available.

_Ring...ring...ring...ring...ring..._

Yu had almost given up waiting for an answer when the other line picked up. "Senpai~! You never call me~!" The sheer enthusiasm and joy in Rise's voice was exactly what Yu needed to hear, and he could almost feel the weight lift off his chest. "You're lucky, I've got tonight off. So what's up? To what do I owe the great honor of your phone call?"

"I...uh. It's been a rough night, and you were the first person I thought of I could talk to that would make me feel better." His voice was rough and he knew it, but he needed to get the words out.

Luckily, Rise grabbed on and took him exactly where he expected her to. "Well of course I am~! Finally, Senpai. Took you long enough." When Yu could only manage a half-hearted chuckle, Rise notched down the enthusiasm just a bit. "But hey, you know you can always talk to me about anything. Is it about your boy?"

He choked on half of a laugh. "Yeah. Something like that."

"Oh nooooo, Senpai did he turn you down? Ugh, I'll go beat them up for breaking your heart."

Now Yu was finally managing the beginnings of a smile. "No, he didn't turn me down, Rise. He..." Yu coughed. "He didn't say anything. Just...said he had to go."

He heard her sigh heavily on the other end of the line. "Ugh! That's almost worrrrse! Seriously, Yu, I will go beat this guy up."

Yu's response was weak. "Please don't beat up our friends, Rise."

That got a long pause, and then a soft sigh from the idol. "You're really just determined to have the hots for everyone we know except for me, huh?"

"Rise..."

She breathed out a laugh. "I'm kidding, Senpai. Like I told you before. I'm always gonna be jealous it's not me, but all I really want is for you to be happy. I want all my friends to be happy." He could almost hear her flop down to sit on something. "So I'd ask who you mean but I'm pretty sure there's only one person it could possibly be."

"You mean you've realized my longstanding and wild love for Kanji?"

That got a genuine cackle from the idol, and Yu finally smiled again. "Awww, you two would be adorable, but you cannot steal Kanji away from Naoto. I won't let you."

"Well fine, if you insist."

"I do." Yu could hear her grin. "But being serious, Yu. Yosuke?"

"Mmhmm. I just got off the phone with him."

There was a long pause. "Okay, I'm gonna say something, and it's gonna sound really mean, but I don't mean it to be, all right?"

"Ooo...kay."

"You know him better than any of the rest of us. Did...did you really expect it to go well?"

Yu sighed. "No, it actually went better than I'd been afraid of. He didn't immediately turn me down and tell me never to talk to him again. He just...kinda shut down."

"Yu, that's kinda how people deal with big news."

"He stopped calling me partner."

That sat heavily for a moment. "Yu..." Rise sighed. "Okay, I'll let you have that little bit to be worried about. It is kinda weird. But." The final word was stressed enough that Yu knew not to argue. "This is still Yosuke we're talking about."

"God, why does everyone say that?" Yu grumbled. "Like he's some mythical exception to his own rule."

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with him. The fact is that _you_  are the mythical exception to his rule. If any guy in the world was going to confess to Yosuke Hanamura and actually get him to consider it? You're the only one, Senpai."

Yu didn't quite know what to do with that. It made sense, inasmuch as anything he'd heard about this whole debacle from his first conversation with Naoto on had made sense. But...he still wanted to doubt. He saw the look on Yosuke's face. Heard the tone in his voice. Heard the thousand tiny reasons he was sure this has gone off in his face.

"Tell you what, Senpai." Rise's voice cut through to him again. "Promise me something."

"What's that?" Yu rubbed his eyes.

"That if this doesn't work out, if it really does all go up in flames like you are determined to believe it's going to, you have to come out and date me next. Because I'm really sick and tired of seeing you depressed over all these people who just keep knocking you on your butt."

That got Yu to laugh, at least a little. "Rise..."

"No, I'm dead serious, Narukami. You knew it wasn't going to work with Naoto. It didn't work out with Chie. If Yosuke drops you on your butt, then I'm the only one left, and you know as well as I do that we could make it work. Besides, you keep saying that all the attention would be your problem, but Yu, idols shouldn't be dating people anyway. You'll be so super secret you won't even know there are press around."

"I'm not sure that's really any better, Rise." But she'd gotten him to smile.

"Promise me, Senpai."

Yu sighed. "Okay. I promise that if it doesn't work out with Yosuke, I'll come be your boyfriend."

He heard her laugh softly, and after a pause her voice came back, much softer. "I love you, Senpai. You know that, right? I'm not just teasing."

He let his head rest against the wall behind him. "I know. I've always believed you, and I love you too. But I'm also really good at finding every reason not to get involved too deeply with people who would be good for me. You fell pretty high on that list."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not." If her voice was a little tight, she was doing her best to hide it.

"It's a compliment, Rise." Finally Yu felt a shade relaxed again. "Though I think you could probably do better than being some washed up kid's fourth chance."

"You're worth the wait, Senpai." Now her voice was very quiet.

"Even if it never happens?"

"Mm-hmm. Like I keep saying, I'm just waiting for you to be happy, and letting myself dream you might be happy with me someday."

Yu didn't quite know what to say to that. It wasn't the first time Rise had said something similar, but tonight it was hitting harder than usual. "You're an amazing person, Rise. I really hope you can be happy too."

"I try to be."

"What, amazing or happy?"

She giggled. "Both." She sighed. "Okay. You need to wait for Yosuke to get the nerve to confess his undying love for you, and I have to go cry in a pillow."

"Rise!" The horror was only slightly exaggerated.

She laughed. "Only a little."

"That doesn't make me feel better!"

"I love you, Senpai. Try not to worry, okay?"

"Okay. Love you too, Rise." He heard her blow a kiss before the call cut off.

_I have to get back home._ He was starting to really get chilled out here. Even in the middle of June, the nights could get cool.

Now all he had to hope was that he wasn't going to get the silent treatment from Yosuke for the next month or so before he could get back to Inaba and beg his friend to forgive him.

...If he still had a friend.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Yu is stupid.
> 
> *bows*

_Friday June 29th -- Evening -- Foggy_

It has been two weeks, and it was utter radio silence. Yu had reached out a few times, just with hello messages and little things like that, but Yosuke hadn't said a word in return. The pit in his stomach just grew bigger and bigger with each day. He couldn't bring himself to talk to any of his new friends. He barely left the house. He ignored the phone if Meg called. Naoto had texted once, asking if something had happened, and he hadn't been able to answer her. Sure, if anyone was going to notice that Yosuke was acting off, it was going to be the detective, but even so...he didn't have the heart to tell her. To say anything.

The only time he ever really left his apartment was to wander back to the shrine, though the memory of the place was shattered a bit by the memory of the phone call. However, it was a nice place to be alone in the quiet, especially now that the evenings were as warm as they were.

Tonight, however, as he approached the shrine he realized that there was someone else there. He couldn't see them all too well, and as soon as his footsteps became even slightly audible, the figure flinched and scooted away, almost trying to hide. "Hey...hey, it's fine. Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." It was so easy to fit back into the guise (the persona, if you will) of the problem-fixer. This was what he did. Who he was. Didn't matter who, apparently.

The figure didn't move, brown eyes staring back at him, wide and panicked. "I'll leave. Please, just don't...please..."

Yu held up his hands. "I'm not going to do anything. You can stay here as long as you like; you're not going to bother me. I'm just..." Yu sighed, losing the words. "Trying to run away too, I guess."

That seemed to set in on the person--young man?--and his stature eased a little. "You mean that."

"Of course. Why, should I know you or something?"

The person didn't answer for a moment, but then shook his head. "No. I...sorry. It's been...a long...while."

"I know how that feels." Yu carefully took a seat next to the figure--yes, a young man not too far from his own age, likely--and pulled his knees up toward his chest. "I'm Yu, by the way."

"I...don't...remember my name." The guy looked sheepish, running his hand through messy brown hair. "Sorry."

"Don't be. It's okay. I can just call you Taro, if that's easier?" It was pretty much the most generic name he could think of--always the example name on forms and math problems--but it was the best he could think of.

The young man chuckled. "Sure. Why not. Taro's a good enough name." "Taro" looked back at the shrine. "You come here to escape too?"

"That's one way of putting it." Yu released a slow breath. "Trying to forget someone. Before they can tell me to forget them." There was a long silence and when Yu glanced over, Taro was watching him intently. "What?"

"I...nothing. It sounds familiar, is all. I'm... I wish I could forget so much as well. You'd think after losing my name...I'd forget what I did, too."

Yu's lips twitched up in a smirk. "I've usually found that it's never that convenient, unfortunately."

They sat in silence for a good chunk of time before Taro spoke again. "Have...have you ever met someone...and instantly thought you'd known them for years? Like it was as natural as breathing to be around them?"

Yu's breath caught in his throat. "Yes."

"But you never knew how to tell them...? And instead found ways to push yourself away from them?"

"You're a mind reader now, Taro."

Yu thought he saw a flicker of a faint smile. "Is that who you're trying to forget? You've done something terrible...something maybe you regret...or even something you knew had to be done but couldn't end well...?"

All Yu could do was watch him. "Who _are_  you?"

That _did_  get a sad smile. "I wish I remembered." He cast a tilted gaze at Yu. "You seem familiar to me as well. Not quite in that same way, but...as if we have something in common, other than our terrible luck."

He hadn't wanted to say anything, but Yu had gotten the same feeling. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was, but there was something about this guy that seemed...way too familiar. "I know the feeling."

Taro looked over, and for a split second, it was far too easy to forget whose brown eyes those were. "Maybe that's why we've both found ourselves here, late at night. At least for a short while...we can help each other forget."

There was a tone to Taro's voice that caught Yu's attention. It wasn't...overt. A suggestion, one that Yu could very easily ignore if he chose to...or he could take what this stranger was offering. One night, to forget what had happened. One night, to pretend he wasn't falling apart, wasn't waiting for the blade to fall, wasn't wondering how he was ever going to patch himself up and continue on after this.

He didn't want to feel so fatalistic. He was tired of feeling like this was the end of his life. It wasn't. And as much as he was sure Rise was half joking, he also knew that she'd be dead serious if he showed up in front of her. He would have a future with someone he cared for.

But tonight... Tonight he just wanted to forget. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe he'd regret everything he was doing in the morning. Maybe he was walking himself into the biggest trap he'd seen in his entire life.

He didn't care.

"Sure. Let's take a walk." Yu stood and offered Taro his hand. "I know some good places to visit at night."

The young man took his hand, touch lingering just a second too long. "Then by all means, lead the way."

In the end, Yu couldn't exactly put a finger on why it had happened or when the shift came, but the two of them had found their way to the park, and had just sat out there, talking about how they'd gotten to where they are. Struggles with decisions, how to handle emotions they couldn't understand or couldn't share...it was almost eerie how similar the two were. 

Yu felt like he could trust him when Taro asked him to close his eyes.

Felt like he could believe Taro when he promised to help them both forget, just for a little while.

Could almost imagine it wasn't a near stranger next to him as their lips touched.

There was a piece of him that hated it all. Hated that he was just throwing himself at random people who walked by (never mind the fact that it hadn't really happened that way), hated that he could just put Yosuke out of his mind (though he never did), hated that he'd resorted to this.

Had he resorted to this? He hadn't sought Taro out. Neither of them started that conversation looking for this.

Maybe this was normal. One night stands were a thing, weren't they? And it wasn't like they were getting intimate. They _were_  still out in public.

And he couldn't deny that there was still a sliver in the back of his mind...that felt _good._  As much as he might want to deny it...he couldn't.

Yu had no idea of what time it was when the two finally broke apart, resting a breath away from each other, Taro's hand laced in Yu's hair. "It's late," the young man whispered, and Yu hummed an agreement. "You have a home to return to, I'm sure."

"I...yeah." The two of them stood up, slowly, uncertain. "Do you...are you going to be okay? Do you have somewhere to go? I could..." Could do what? He wasn't sure how to end that sentence.

Taro's lips twitched in the ghost of a smile, and he shook his head. "Please, don't worry about me. You've done more than enough for me tonight." Yu could almost feel his cheeks flush. "You're a very caring person, Yu. I hope the pain you have in your heart doesn't make you forget that."

Yu didn't know how to respond to that. "Same to you," was what he settled on.

The ghost of a smile faded into a sadder expression. "I wish that were true, but I thank you for the thought. Go home, Yu. Take care."

"You too, Taro. Good luck."

It was a strange silence, heading back to his house. Walking in the door, keeping quiet so as to not wake his parents...slipping onto his futon and watching the screen of his phone, desperate for it to light up, show him the one name he was dying to see.

The display stayed dark.

_Maybe it serves me right, now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random fact I learned: "Taro Yamada" is essentially the "John Doe" of the Japanese world.


	22. Author Note

For a multitude of reasons, it is possible that the last couple of chapters will be delayed. I hate to do this, after we've all waited so long, but I want to do this right for you all. 

And right now, if I never touched this story again, I'd be okay. 

A few recent circumstances (unattached to each other entirely) have simply made me hate working on this, hate the story, and hate anything I could possibly put together for an ending. I have no confidence in the story, in my writing, and in my ability to convey anything the way I mean for it to be seen. 

I love the story I set out to tell. 

It doesn't feel like my story anymore. It makes me want to light it on fire and laugh. 

I am sorry, truly sorry for this. I will finish it, and it won't be a year from now. But I want to give you the ending you deserve. And right now, I can't deliver that. 

I'm sorry. 

JC


	23. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so incredibly much for all the kind words you sent after my author's note a few weeks back. I'm in a much better place now, I'm more situated at my job, and while life is still stressful, I'm finding my way back to the keyboard. Hearing all of you, who I've already put on such a hiatus in the past, urge me to take care of myself and not worry about the story...it was really overwhelming. I do love this story and these boys deserve a hell of a finale. We're not quite there yet, but...
> 
> Well, here's a chapter I'm sure you've all been waiting for. ;)
> 
> I love you all. <3

_Wednesday July 11th -- Evening -- Rainy_

Yu had given up hope. It had been almost a month, and the few times he'd attempted to reach out to his friend with even a simple "hello" had ended in silence. Naoto had been able to report that it did seem that Yosuke had been affected by something, but it wasn't anything he was willing to talk about. (Go figure.) She hadn't known what to say after that.

Well, to be fair, she'd used up most of her words telling him stupid he'd been at the park a few weeks back, but he'd deserved that.

His friends at school had done their best to keep his spirits up, but in the end Yu had just drifted off again. Summer was coming and they all assured him that they'd be around and make sure he didn't feel left out if he decided not to go back to Inaba.

 _Not to go back._  Something he never would have even thought of, just a month ago. Inaba was the only place he wanted to be. And now...now he was just afraid of what might happen if he went, and spent all that time with the potential to run into someone he once considered his closest friend...who now wouldn't speak to him.

But he did have other friends in Inaba. He still wanted to see them. Chie had mentioned that Teddy might be making his way back out to their side of the TV at least for a little while, and that alone would make the trip worthwhile. On top of that, Rise had already told him that she was planning of making some time to come out as well, which didn't leave him with an option to now show up, as far as she was concerned.

Who knew. Maybe it'd be their first endeavor into whatever variation of dating they were going to end up in.

Needless to say, when his phone chirped with a text message just after he'd finished with dinner, he didn't jump to answer it. Recently it had either been Mishima asking him how he felt and if he'd feel up to hanging out, or it was Rise telling him all the plans she was making for her summer break. Right now, he didn't feel like dealing with either of them.

Seeing what was actually on his screen made everything inside him wrench at once.

_From: Yosuke     hey cn u tlk?_

Yu had almost forgotten how to breathe. _I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming._  But when smacking his face didn't wake him up, he slowly sat himself down on the couch and responded.

_Of course. Should I call? Or just text?_

A long pause, and then his phone rang. Yu took several deep breaths, then answered the call, raising the phone to his ear with a shaking hand. "Hey."

A long enough pause that Yu checked to make sure the call was still connected. It was. "Hey." Yosuke sounded exhausted. "I, uh..." He coughed. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you."

"It's okay." Yu was forcing the words, but he needed to say them. "I...I don't blame you."

"No, I..." Yosuke sighed. "It was a dick move. Not you," he added quickly. "I mean me just going dark. I just...I wasn't..." He grumbled. "I didn't know what to say."

“I know it just...came out of nowhere.” Yu closed his eyes, tucking his feet under him. “I wish I could have warned you or something.”

“I’m not really sure there’s a way to warn someone for that.” There was an attempt at humor in Yosuke’s voice, but it was falling flat between them.

There was a long silence before Yu tried to speak again. “I do get it if you...if you don’t want to talk anymore.”

“No, that’s...that’s not it.” Yosuke sighed. “I just...I didn’t...I’ve never…” He groaned.

“I second that feeling.”

That actually got a chuckle out of Yosuke. “I bet.” Another long pause. “So do you, like...just have a thing for everyone in Inaba, or…?”

Yu choked on something halfway between a laugh and a cough. “That’s pretty much what Rise asked me.”

Yosuke was silent for a moment. “You know, I was about to ask how Rise knew, but that’s kind of a dumb question. Does…” A beat. “Does everyone know?”

“Not...everyone? I don’t think, at least. Chie, Naoto, and Rise. And really, only Naoto was told willingly.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” Again, a loss for words. Yosuke coughed. “I guess the real reason I’ve been so quiet is just...trying to figure out what to say. What my answer really was.”

“I was pretty sure you’d have an answer right off the bat.”

Yu could almost hear the sheepish look on Yosuke’s face. “Well, I’ll be honest. At first? It was probably exactly what you thought it would be. But after a while, I just...I don’t know, I guess I just really started thinking about it. Not just as something out there in the world that didn’t affect me, but actually just...thinking about it in terms of you and me. I mean, I’ve probably told you a billion times by now, but I still really believe that everything inside of me changed when I met you. The person you met on his bike that first day of school and the guy who saw you go back to the city on the train...they’re not really the same person. I mean, they’re both me, but...you know what I mean.”

“I do.” In a way, Yu really thought it was true for all of them. It was impossible to come out the other side of all that and not be changed. Wasn’t that the point of their Shadows and Personas in the first place?

“So I just...I dunno. I thought about all the stuff I’d want to do with a girlfriend, or what kind of girl would attract me...and then figured out if I could imagine me doing it with a guy. ...With you.” When Yu didn’t answer, Yosuke coughed again. “I gotta admit, it was kinda weird.”

“I understand that feeling.” Yu’s voice was soft. “I’d never really...considered it before. Hadn’t even come to mind. But...I can’t explain it, but you were different.”

“I kinda came to that myself. Like...I don’t know how I’d feel about all this if you were standing in front of me. Like if we were actually doing...I don’t know, whatever. But in kind of a theoretical sense...I mean, it’s just like being really really good friends, right?”

Yu tilted his head. “In a way, yeah. I mean, there’s usually a more physical aspect with someone you’re dating, but…”

“Well but see that’s the part I don’t really know. I mean, I talked about it a little with someone, but…”

“Wait, you talked to someone about this?” Yu’s eyes shot open. “You told someone?”

“...I can’t tell if you’re unhappy about that or if you don’t believe me.” Yu wasn't surprised to hear the edge of defensiveness in Yosuke's voice. In fact, he was surprised it hadn't come out more yet.

"I'm just surprised," Yu replied. "I mean, I know how hard it's been for me to wrap my head around it. I know it's been even harder for you."

"Well yeah, but...I just..." He coughed. "Yeah, I talked to someone. Someone I figured might understand."

Yu wasn't going to push who'd he'd spoken to. It could have been any number of people, but if Yosuke hadn't named them yet, he clearly didn't want to say--and Yu wasn't willing to make this any more uncomfortable for Yosuke than it already was. "I'm glad you found someone to have that conversation with. I...ah. Well, I suppose you could say I had a conversation with someone."

There was a beat of silence. "Have you...damn. Uh... Have you ever like...been with a guy before? Like, I don't mean just--I just--I mean in any way. You know what I mean."

And of course, he did. "I..." Now it was Yu's turn to cough. "Once. Just in the past month. While I...I thought you'd stopped speaking to me." There was a long silence. "I know it was probably a terrible decision and I shouldn't have done it, but I guess...I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking." The silence continued. It was a long moment before Yu said tentatively, "Y...Yosuke?"

"I did too," his friend finally blurted. "It wasn't supposed to be anything and like he has a boyfriend and everything but I don't know it felt like it lasted a really long time and then I felt really bad because here I was not saying anything to you the person who actually did confess to me but then I could turn around and make out with this other guy or something and I still didn't really know how I felt about it all but I didn't hate it I just kinda hated myself because I felt like I'd betrayed your trust or something and I just I'm really kinda glad to hear that I wasn't the only one because now I don't feel like I've been a complete jerk."

Yu waited a beat to see if Yosuke was done before commenting, "Take a breath, partner." Yosuke laughed. "If you've been a jerk, then I have too, so I think we can cancel ourselves out then. Okay?"

"Okay. Yeah, that sounds good." Yu could hear Yosuke take a deep breath. "It's just been such a weird and crazy month." He sighed, and after another pause, continued softly, "Partner, I...I know I'm gonna be weird about this for a while. I just know myself well enough that it's gonna be weird and I'm probably gonna freak out about everything. But..."

Yu closed his eyes.

"But if you're willing to deal with me panicking about everything then...I mean, I guess we can give it a try, right?"

Yu almost couldn't speak. "Of course. It's...it'll be long-distance at first."

"I think that might make it easier," Yosuke muttered.

Yu had to laugh. "It might. We'll take it easy over summer break, okay? Just see how things go."

"...yeah, okay. Right. Summer." A beat. "Damn, that's soon, isn't it?"

"Another couple of weeks, I think." Yu glanced across the room at his calendar. "I'm really looking forward to being back."

"I'm looking forward to you being back too." Yosuke sighed. "I'm sorry again about the silence, partner."

"It's okay, Yosuke. I'm just glad I'm your 'partner' again." Yu blinked. "Though I guess that's a little more literal now."

There was a beat. "Huh. Yeah, I guess." Another pause, then Yosuke's voice was soft. "You've...kinda been dropping hints for a while, haven't you?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just, over the past month I was thinking back to our conversations and just...you saying whatever about being a sexy nurse or something, and then you poking at me when I used 'bf' for best friend and you asked if I was confessing...little stuff like that. It all just kinda jumped out at me."

"It hasn't been entirely intentional, but...yes. I thought it might not be a complete bolt out of the blue when I said something if I did."

"I think it did help, at least a little. It got the thought in my brain at least." After a moment, Yosuke chuckled. "So what, are you my boyfriend now?"

Yu's heart wasn't going to be able to take much more of this conversation. "We'll see how you feel about that after summer break. But...yeah, kinda." Yu paused for a moment, then added, "I'm your partner. Same as I've always been."

He could hear the smile of Yosuke's face. "Yeah. Partner." Yu had to stifle a yawn and Yosuke chuckled. "I keeping you up?"

"No, just...I haven't been sleeping all that well."

"Yeah, me neither." A pause. "Maybe we'll both sleep a little better tonight."

"I hope so." Yu breathed out slowly, finally smiling again. "Get some sleep, Yosuke."

"You too, partner." He paused. "You...you're a pretty awesome guy, you know that?"

"That's what people keep telling me."

"Well you are. ...And I'm really...really glad I met you."

Yu's voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm glad I met you too."

"G'night, partner."

"Night, Yosuke."


	24. Interlude: Yosuke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been thinking about Yosuke's side of his conversation with Yu, and the more I thought about it, the more I needed to write out his conversation with the unnamed individual. (Who of course, I have always known who it was. ;) Of course!)
> 
> So before I ship Yu back to Inaba for the summer, have Yosuke having the most uncomfortable conversation of his life. Enjoy!

This was going to be the most awkward conversation of his life. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to start it, let alone figure out how to actually have the damn conversation. But if anyone was going to be able to understand a fraction of what was going on in his head...well, he really only had one option.

Yosuke ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends while he waited for his friend to get to his locker.  _What am I going to say? What is **he**  going to say? God, he's going to hate me. He's going to laugh in my face and hate me. I don't know what I think I'm doing. Ugh._

"Hey senpai? Can I get through?"

Yosuke bolted upright at Kanji's interjection, the younger man giving Yosuke a confused look. "Yeah sorry, hey I..." His voice died in his throat as Naoto came into view behind Kanji. They'd been around each other more often as of late--at least, from what little Yosuke ever noticed--but this was a wild card he hadn't figured out a plan for.

Luckily, as was so often the case, the detective saw all the signs he wasn't even trying to show. "I was just on my way out. Tomorrow, Kanji-kun?"

Kanji just nodded, giving a brief smile to Naoto as she walked away with a wave. Then all eyes were back to Yosuke. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Uh...I don't...um. Not really? I just...uh...damn, this is stupid." He tugged at his hair again. "Never mind."

Yosuke tried to walk away, but Kanji cut him off, face stern. "Uh-uh, I don't think so, dude. You been actin' weird for a while now. M'not letting you off that easy."

Yosuke sighed. "I just...can we...do you have a minute? Can we talk?"

Kanji blinked, but nodded. "Sure, senpai. You wanna go sit somewhere? Out on the lookout point or somethin?"

"Sure, that sounds good."  _Inasmuch as any of this sounds good..._ But it was done now, and the two made their way up to the pavilion on the hill.

When Yosuke didn't break the ice, Kanji tried. "I ain't a mind reader, senpai. If you wanna talk, you gotta actually talk."

"Was it weird?" Yosuke blurted out, spinning to face Kanji. The blonde stared blankly back at him. "Back when you thought Naoto was a guy."

"...Dude, I have no idea what you're getting at."

"Don't be an idiot; we all know you've had the hots for Naoto since day one. Whatever. But like, back when she first came to Yasogami, we all thought Naoto was a dude. But you liked her--him--whatever. But you were straight. Wasn't that weird? How...how did you like, deal with that?"

Kanji flushed a bit, but managed to only furrow his eyebrows at Yosuke. "You were around the whole damn time, senpai, makin' fun of me from the get go." There was a beat, and then Kanji's eyes narrowed. "Wait a second."

Yosuke held up his hands, eyes wide. "Hey, just hear me out, I know it's--"

"No, you hold on one second." Kanji was getting louder, though he wasn't quite shouting yet. "There ain't no way...NO way you're tellin' me you got a thing for a guy." Yosuke opened his mouth to continue, but Kanji wasn't done. "You. You, Mr. HaHa-You're-Gay, gonna mock me into next week, gonna freak out about sharing a goddamn tent with me like it's gonna catch or somethin'. An' now suddenly you gotta a thing for a dude. What, you comin' to me 'cause you think I made you gay? Haven't you figured out that's not why that son of a bitch--"

Yosuke had to cut him off. "I know, okay?!" His voice was shrill, trying not to crack. "I know it's bullshit and of all people of course it happened to me, but that's why I'm asking you! Because you know how fucking weird this is!" It worked; Kanji stopped talking and just fumed silently. "Listen, I know I've been an ass. And I know for all I've apologized in the past, it still makes this make me look like an even bigger ass. But...come on, Kanji. Who the hell else am I going to talk to, when I've thought I was totally straight for my whole damn life and then one guy comes along and throws everything upside down?"

There was a moment of silence, and Yosuke could see the anger drain out of Kanji's face. "Okay." He took a breath. "Okay, you got a point there."

"I don't know what to do, man." Yosuke's voice fell limp, matching the rest of him as he slumped onto a bench. "Like, I don't even know if I have a thing for him or not, but I guess he likes me...? And I wanna just shrug it off and laugh and just move on and pretend I don't care, but...I can't. Because something's different about him."

"Yeah, that's about right." Kanji sat down next to him. "You wanna tell me who it is? Or are we just gonna talk in circles?"

Yosuke glared at Kanji. "Come on. You know me. Who's the only guy you can think of that might get this reaction out of me?"

"So the same guy everyone else in Inaba's trying to bang. 'Cept for me, apparently." Yosuke just grumbled, and Kanji managed a small laugh. "C'mon, that's supposed to be a joke. Guy's popular is all I'm sayin'."

"I feel like I'm going crazy."

"Yeah, sounds about right." The blond leaned back and gave Yosuke a sidelong look. "So this just kinda came outta nowhere?"

"No, I...he..." Yosuke sighed. "He called me, one night, saying he wanted to talk serious. I figured it was his family or some girl or I don't even know. Something boring, normal. And then...it was just this huge thing about how he wanted to come back to Inaba but really he just wanted to be back here because of me and he liked me as more than a friend and I just..." He shook his head. "I don't know. It was this waterfall of stuff."

"What did you do?" Kanji tilted his head slightly. 

"I panicked and said I had to get off the phone."

"Have you talked to him since?" Yosuke shook his head. "When did he call you?"

"Uh...probably like three weeks ago? Maybe a month, I don't remember."

That got Kanji sitting up straight. "Wait, so you're tellin' me that your best freakin' friend on the planet confessed to you and you just  _didn't talk to him for a month?_ " 

Yosuke's eyes got wide. "What was I supposed to tell him?!"

"Anything! Shit, dude. Naoto did better'n that when I told her I liked her, an' that's sayin' somethin'."

The brunet could feel his face burn. "C'mon, Kanji. That's different."

"Not that different." He sighed and leaned back again. "Okay. So Senpai confesses to you, you freak out and run away."

"Hey!"

"Am I wrong?" Yosuke didn't have a response for that. "That's what I thought. Besides, I'm not really judgin' you here. It's a weird feelin'."

"I don't know what to do."

"Well, do you like him?" When Yosuke shot him a glare, Kanji glared back. "Don't look at me like that. Even as screwed up as I felt like my head was, I knew I liked Naoto. Fact that I thought she was a dude was causing me problems, but I still knew."

Yosuke looked down at his feet, scuffing the toe of his shoe in the dirt. "I don't...I don't know. I never really thought about it, I guess. I mean, he  _is_  my best friend. He means a lot to me. I just...like, you kiss people you're dating, and I don't know how I'd feel about--"

"Whoa, okay, slow down tiger. First off, no one said anything about kissing right now. Jus' look at all of us. Chie an' Kou go make out in corners whenever they can. Yukiko an' Naoki, I've seen them do like, quick kisses goodbye or whatever, but nothing huge. Me an' Naoto can usually figure out how to hold hands sometimes. Everybody's gonna move different."

Yosuke huffed out a sigh. "Well then, how the hell am I supposed to tell if I like him or not? That's how I tell if I like girls."

Kanji rolled his eyes. "Okay." He thought for a moment. "How would you feel if he called someone else 'partner'? Or if he let someone else call him that?"

"But that's my name for him." The response was immediate.

"Mm-hmm." Kanji cracked his neck. "An' what if he comes back next time and says he's gonna stay in the city 'cause he got a girlfriend?"

Yosuke could feel his stomach sink, like he'd swallowed a huge stone.  _Not coming back?_  Sure, there was always the possibility. Hadn't he and Yu talked about that at the end of Golden Week? But this was different. This was him not coming back to Inaba...because he'd met someone else. Someone else who had gotten close to him, had won his trust the same way they all had...but had something else they didn't. Something that could lead him away from the rest of the Investigation Team...away from him. Yu always said he wanted to come back and be in Inaba, back with his friends. Someone else who could mean  _that much_  to him...?

"Look on your face is all the answer I need," Kanji said quietly.

Yosuke turned his gaze on Kanji and swallowed. "You got lucky. You found out Naoto was a girl. What am I supposed to do?"

"Go find a dude to make out with, and if you don't completely shit yourself, call Senpai back."

Yosuke sputtered, the blood draining out of his head so fast his ears were ringing. "I can't just--! You just said I shouldn't be thinking about kissing!"

Kanji finally broke his serious demeanor and barked out a laugh. "I just wanted t'see yer reaction. But seriously. I know some guys you can talk to who can probably help you figure out how to have the conversation, if yer gonna call Senpai back some day."

"I...I..." His mouth was dry, his head was spinning, and he felt like he might just get sick.

"Fine. Call them."

But this was for Yu, wasn't it? This was for his partner.

He had to try. He owed Yu that much. And after that...he owed him that phone call, no matter what the answer was.


End file.
